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“Normal” life may be returning to downtown Sarasota.
At Selva Grill, the south Main Street eatery known for its creative cocktails and romantic vibe, both indoor and outdoor tables are filling up with diners on a regular basis, manager Michael Heitzman said. The restaurant’s cozy bar, with a lounge area perfect for groups of people reuniting, is alive on the weekends.
Selva is also back to its prepandemic employment level of about 50 people, as are some other local restaurants. Monk’s Steamer Bar in Gulf Gate, for example, is back to having 10 front-of-house workers on staff.
In February, the unemployment rate for the leisure and hospitality industry was 13.5% nationwide. Sarasota and Manatee counties lost 9,800 leisure and hospitality jobs between February 2020 and February 2021, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Leisure and hospitality had 39,300 employees in February 2021, compared to 49,100 the same month the year before.
On Feb. 13, Emily Zappa, teacher and head of school at Desert Jewish Academy, received a special thank-you plaque and check for $250 from PayPal for being one of five
Unemployment in the Sarasota-Manatee region fell back down to its October level in December, as the state economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The area’s unemployment rate was 4.7% in the last month of 2020, down a few percentage points from 5.1% in November. The rate was also 4.7% for both Sarasota and Manatee counties individually; Manatee’s rate was 5% in November and Sarasota’s was 4.8%.
Combined, the region had 17,054 people seeking work in December. Nonagricultural employment in the region was 307,600, a decrease of 11,400 jobs compared to December 2019. Back then, the local unemployment rate was 2.6%.
Jen Zak, communications director for workforce and educational services provider CareerSource Suncoast, said that her organization has job opportunities for people seeking work, including funding from a national emergency grant that allows them to pay for someone to work for four months at one of several humanitarian organizations.