Bennett-Alexander, D.D., & Hartman, L.P. (2009). Employment

¶ … Bennett-Alexander, D.D., & Hartman, L.P. (2009). Employment law business (6th ed. How's the economy in Florida? Florida's economy was one of the hardest-hit during the 2008-2009 recession and it has experienced a slow recovery. According to recent data, Florida has shown some signs of improving, finishing the "2012 calendar year with 3.2% growth over 2011, putting the state only slightly below the national growth rate of 3.5%" (Florida: An economic overview, 2013, Florida Legislature: 4).

However, the overall job outlook for Floridians looks rather bleak: 521,000 jobs were lost since the economy's last peak of growth yet its population of young workers during their prime years of working life is increasing rather than decreasing. It is estimated that "it would take the creation of about 900,000 jobs for the same percentage of the total population to be working as was the case at the peak" (Florida: An economic overview, 2013, Florida Legislature: 7). Florida's wages have always lagged behind the national average and that trend has sadly continued.

During the 2012 economic year it further declined to 87.7% of the U.S. national average (Florida: An economic overview, 2013, Florida Legislature: 9). One problem is that the Florida economy remains extremely undiversified: "Tourism is both Florida's greatest strength and one of its greatest weaknesses. Tourism is very susceptible to weaknesses in the national or international economies" (Chamber report shows Florida economy needs improvement, 2013, Daytona Beach News Journal). During the recession, many people cut back on tourism, which further resulted in a contraction of the Florida economy.

However, not all signs are gloomy: one positive development is that sales of existing homes are going up -- however, that may merely be because the overall price of Florida homes is declining, indicating that long-term sellers are now desperate (Florida: An economic overview, 2013, Florida Legislature:14). Still, the number of homes classified as 'underwater' in Florida has declined from 50% to 20%, a significant drop from the height of the recession (Florida: An economic.