FYI Miami: February 5, 2026

GROWTH FROM ABROAD: Almost all of Florida’s population growth in the past year was propelled by international immigration, according to Census Bureau reports released last week. Although the nation as a whole had an historic decline in international immigration, plunging from 2.7 million people in 2024 to 1.3 million in 2025, Florida topped the nation with 178,674 net international immigration last year. That international growth accounted for almost all of the state’s net population gain last year of 196,680 people as Florida’s population growth slowed markedly. Florida had the nation’s third largest population last year at 23,462,578, behind California and Texas, but Florida was not in the top 10 states in percentage of population growth, a list led by South Carolina at 1.5%.

UNEMPLOYMENT DIVES: Miami-Dade County’s unemployment rate fell sharply to 2.5% in December from 3.2% in November, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week, while unemployment for Florida as a whole was rising to 4.3%. The national jobless rate was 4.4%. The last time Miami-Dade’s unemployment rate was at 2.5% or below was in June 2025. The rate in December 2024 was 2.4%. Both the county’s civilian labor force and employment reached all-time highs in December. The labor force was 1,470,605 people, which was 12,182 more than in November, which also had been a record high. The number of people at work was also a record, 1,434,350, totaling 22,172 more workers than in November, which was the previous high.  

NICKEL FOR YOUR THOUGHTS: Businesses could round cash sales to the nearest nickel to account for the discontinuation of the penny under a bill that’s moving in both Florida legislative chambers. The House Ways & Means Committee unanimously backed a measure that establishes rounding procedures when the business is unable to provide exact change to those paying by cash. The US Mint suspended production of the penny Nov. 12 due to production costs. Under the proposal, purchases could be rounded down to the nearest nickel involving cash sales that end in 1, 2, 6 or 7, and rounded up to the nearest nickel when the sale ends in 3, 4, 8 or 9.

RATES KICKED HIGHER: Miami area hotels saw the highest gain in daily room rates in the nation in the week ended Jan. 24, propelled by the College Football Playoff National Championship at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, according to CoStar data. Miami hotels gained 16.1% from the same week of 2025 in the daily room rate, which averaged $297.46 for the week. Meanwhile, the daily room rate for the nation as a whole fell 1% year over year to $152.64.

These are some of the FYIs in this week’s edition. The entire content of this week’s FYIs and Insider sections is available by subscription only. To subscribe click here.