Report: Florida's Unemployment May Not Drop Below 6% Until 2020

​The good news is that Florida's economy has pretty much no where to go but up. The bad news is that it's going to take a long time to get it their. An economic forecast published by Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Economic Competitiveness, states that, "Flight Attendants, please prepare Florida for takeoff. 2011 is the runway and in 2012 the economy should be airborne and gaining altitude." It just may take us most of the rest of the decade to get back to pre-crash levels.

It's predicted that 2011 will see the unemployment rate in the state begin a steady decline, but that the rate may not dip below 6 percent again until 2020. It may not even fall below 10 percent until the last quarter of 2013.

It will be the first quarter of 2014 until the payroll levels of Florida companies reach their pre-recession levels. Real gross state product, personal income growth, the housing market and most other economic indicators are expected to also start making slow recoveries.

In the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale metro area Snaith predicts moderate growth between 2010 and 2013, with personal income growing 3.8 percent each year. Jobs should increase by 1.7 percent each year with major increases coming in the business and professional services, health and education, and trade, transportation and utility sectors.

Here's a snap shot of the projections for the Miami area over the next few years.

​Read the full report here.

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