Business

St.Petersburg FL Business demographics can be widely varied by industry. Listed below are some of the latest business headlines from local businesses.

Florida unemployment drops slightly, to 9.6 percent

Florida stopped shedding jobs in April, helping the state’s unemployment rate ease from 9.8 percent to 9.6 percent. Even the Tampa Bay area, which has lost 53,400 jobs the past year, saw unemployment dip from 10.5 percent in March to 10.1 percent in April.

Time to declare an end to our recessionary job fears? Don’t count on it. Even when the economy starts to grow again, jobs probably won’t follow for months. “I don’t think we could call this a turn in Florida’s economy,” said Wachovia economist and Florida prognosticator Mark Vitner.

Sean Snaith, an economist at the University of Central Florida, was equally somber. “We’ll get to double-digit unemployment before the end of the year. We’ll break through 10 percent,” Snaith said. “It’s going to take a while for that ugly scar to fade.”

WellCare 360-job cut includes 200 in Florida, mostly in bay area

About 200 of the 360 jobs being cut by WellCare Health Plans Inc., are based in Florida , mostly from the Tampa Bay area, the company said Thursday. The managed care company headquartered in Tampa is reducing its workforce by 9 percent in response to “changing business conditions,” WellCare said Wednesday. That includes the company’s exit from its Medicare Advantage private fee-for-service plans in 2010. Some workers were laid off Wednesday, while others will remain for an undefined period as part of a transition team, the company said.