FLORIDA'S ECONOMY

An overwhelming majority of respondents (73%) to lastweek's Quick Poll believe Florida's economy will get worse beforeit gets better, while only about a quarter of them (27%) think therecovery is straight ahead. David Denslow, professor and researcheconomist with the University of Florida Bureau of Economic andBusiness Research in Gainesville, is among that majority, havingpredicted earlier this year that a recession is all but officiallydeclared in this state. To make matters worse, the Florida Agencyfor Workforce Innovation blamed faulty surveys for prior reportsthat the state gained thousands of jobs last year when those wereactually lost. Denslow shares his thoughts on the Florida economicoutlook:

"Florida is going to stay down for a while as a nationalrecession is increasingly more likely. That's going to make theadjustment of the residential market in Florida take much longer.Home prices will have to fall a bit more, and it will be longerbefore building starts picking up.