TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Florida Job Losses To Weigh Heavy On Black Friday

ADVERTISEMENT

By SHANNON BEHNKEN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 26, 2008

TAMPA - The holiday deals may be hot, but that won't be enough to convince consumers to spend like retailers hope they will, according to a University of Central Florida economist.

This week's Black Friday will be a disappointing one for the retail industry, as overall consumer spending continues its downward slide this quarter. This rate of decline has not been seen in Florida since 1974, said economist Sean Snaith.

"Consumers have seen trillions of dollars of housing and stock market wealth evaporate," Snaith said. "And they're faced with a steady stream of layoff announcements amid a still-rising unemployment rate."

Consumers nationwide will likely spend less on holiday gifts this year, but especially in states such as Florida, which is hard-hit by the economic downturn, Snaith said. He points to the Sunshine State's jobless rate, which is 0.5 percentage points higher than the national average of 6.5 percent.

The state's unemployment rate was at 7 percent in October, according to Florida's Agency for Workforce Development. That's a 0.4 percentage point spike from September's rate. Statewide, 655,000 people are unemployed.

Many more fear they'll be laid off this year, so their holiday gift lists will likely be conservative, Snaith said.

"Understandably, they are battening down their personal financial hatches by cutting back on spending to try and ride out this economic storm," he said.

Snaith said he expects the economy to get worse before it gets better toward the end of 2010.

"Unfortunately, we haven't seen the worst of it."

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT