{"id":225206,"date":"2026-04-09T19:03:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T19:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/225206\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T19:03:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T19:03:08","slug":"floridas-economy-slowing-growth-amid-global-uncertainty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/225206\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida’s economy: Slowing growth amid global uncertainty"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Florida\u2019s economy is still expected to grow over the next several years, but the pace is slowing as rising global uncertainty and energy volatility add new pressure to households and businesses, according to a new forecast from the University of Central Florida.<\/a><\/p>\n

Economist Sean Snaith, director of UCF\u2019s Institute for Economic Forecasting<\/a>, said international instability is now becoming one of the biggest forces shaping Florida\u2019s short-term economic outlook.<\/p>\n

\u201cForget tariffs. The war with Iran is shaping the path of Florida\u2019s economy in the near term,\u201d Snaith said.<\/p>\n

The latest forecast says Florida should continue outperforming the national economy through 2029, but growth is expected to moderate after several years of stronger expansion.<\/p>\n

A recent ceasefire in the Middle East may help stabilize some short-term conditions, Snaith said, but uncertainty remains.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat matters now is whether it holds and what economic damage has already been done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Energy prices are expected to be one of the first places Floridians feel the impact. Fuel costs rose during the conflict, adding pressure for consumers still dealing with elevated prices after years of inflation.<\/p>\n

Economists say prolonged disruptions to energy production or shipping could quickly affect transportation, agriculture, health care and consumer goods, increasing the risk of slower economic growth.<\/p>\n

Even before the latest geopolitical concerns, Florida\u2019s economy had already been moving into a slower phase.<\/p>\n

The forecast projects Florida\u2019s real gross state product will grow an average of 2.3% annually from 2026 through 2029, slowing through 2028 before picking up slightly.<\/p>\n

By 2029, Florida\u2019s nominal gross state product is expected to exceed $2.2 trillion.<\/p>\n

The labor market is also expected to remain relatively strong.<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s unemployment rate is forecast to rise to 4.3% this year before gradually falling to 4% by 2029, staying below the national average.<\/p>\n

Job growth is expected to average 0.6% annually during that same period.<\/p>\n

Housing continues to show signs of adjustment after years of rapid price growth.<\/p>\n

The report says home prices have softened modestly, activity has slowed and affordability remains a challenge, especially as higher mortgage rates and insurance costs continue to weigh on buyers.<\/p>\n

Housing starts are expected to decline in the near term before gradually increasing again by 2029.<\/p>\n

The forecast also projects real personal income growth in Florida will average 3.1% annually through 2029, outpacing national growth.<\/p>\n

Snaith, a nationally recognized forecaster, has previously been cited by Bloomberg News as one of the nation\u2019s most accurate economic forecasters.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n

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\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Florida\u2019s economy is still expected to grow over the next several years, but the pace…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[147,145,101721,28,98685,101722,139,141,140,100874,2103,144,146],"class_list":["post-225206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-central-florida","tag-channel-9","tag-energy-volatility","tag-florida","tag-floridas-economy","tag-global-uncertainty","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-sean-snaith","tag-university-of-central-florida","tag-wftv","tag-wftv-channel-9"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}