Florida candidates qualify

Qualifying for Florida House races ended Friday, and district 79 has five candidates now: two Republicans, a Democrat, a Tea Party member and a write-in.

State Rep. Mike Horner, R-Kissimmee, is the incumbent; his Republican challenger in the Aug. 24 primary will be Thomas Chalifoux Jr., of Kissimmee.

The lone Democrat in this race now is Eddie Freeman, of Titusville. The Tea Party candidate is Jose A. Alvarez, of Kissimmee. The write-in candidate is Danny Davis, also of Kissimmee.

The district 41 House race where Steve Precourt, R-Orlando, is the incumbent, has two other candidates: Democrat Lee Douglas, of Winter Garden, and Tea Party member Jon Foley, of Orlando.

In district 49, incumbent Darren Soto, D-Orlando, will face Betty La Chance, also of Orlando, who is running with no party affiliation. Soto has no Republican challenger.

In the Florida district 26 Senate race, incumbent Mike Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, is running unopposed.

Gulf Recovery Jobs

Gov. Charlie Crist last week announced the launch of Florida Gulf Recovery Jobs, a website that allows job seekers to search and apply directly for jobs related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Statewide, there were more than 4,200 Gulf recovery-related positions listed on floridagulfrecoveryjobs.com. Some response and recovery jobs require special training, for which job seekers may receive a stipend.

County’s jobless rate fell again

The jobless rate in Osceola County in May was 12.0 percent, 0.3 percentage points below April’s rate, according to data released Friday by Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation; it was the third consecutive monthly drop.

Florida’s jobless rate fell to 11.7 percent for the month, compared to 12 percent in April.

According to the agency, signs of an improving job market, besides the drop in the state’s jobless rate, include:

• A national decrease of 0.2 percentage point for the month, to 9.7 percent.

• An increase of 431,000 jobs over the month for nonagricultural employment nationwide and 20,300 more jobs in Florida.

• An expectation that the number of employed workers in the state will grow by a bit less than 2.4 percent for each of the next five years.

• And the number for people filing for first-time unemployment compensation in May nationwide fell for the third straight month.

Osceola, Polk and Charlotte counties with their 12 percent jobless rates were tied as having the 14th highest unemployment in the state. Orange County, with its 11.1 percent jobless rate in May compared to 11.3 percent in April, had the 31st highest jobless rate.

The Orlando, Sanford and Kissimmee metropolitan area’s jobless rate was 11.1 percent, the 15th worst rate in the state for metro areas out of 23. The area’s jobless rate in April was 11.4 percent.