Top Three Takeaways – December 4th
- Jobs, jobs jobs. Before it was President Trump’s mantra, it was the core of Governor Rick Scott’s platform as he outlined his plan to take Florida’s unemployment rate from 12%, 3rd worst in the country at the time he became governor, to one of the lowest in the country. When Governor Scott exited his office to become Florida’s junior US Senator, his track record on his core platform was an incredible success. At a 3.3% unemployment Florida rate, Florida hadn’t just fully recovered from the Great Recession losses – we were experiencing record low unemployment rates – which were significantly below the national average. During the eight years of Rick Scott’s term as governor, the only state which added more jobs adjusted for population was North Dakota. It didn’t happen by accident. Governor Scott’s favorite activity while governor, which he disclosed to me the first time I spoke with him as governor, was recruiting businesses to our state.
- Diversification. The reason Governor Scott focused as much energy on recruiting businesses to relocate to Florida as he did to growing from within our state was diversification. It’s well-known that the majority of Florida’s economy occurred in three buckets a decade ago. Agriculture, entertainment and tourism. There are similarities between all three. They tend to be on the lower end of the pay scale for those who work within those industries and are extremely economically sensitive. Florida’s economy was always among the first to collapse during a recession, would be among the hardest hit and would take longer than most to recover. He realized that diversification of industries within our state had the potential to create greater stability during periods of economic uncertainty, higher paying jobs generally, and would help cultivate a workforce and culture which would lead to organic growth within the state. We’ve seen it play out, especially in South Florida, as the Miami metro became one of the 10 fastest growth economies for technology and medical science in the world. Not only do many of the largest technology companies in the world like Apple, Google and Microsoft have regional headquarters in Florida – the cultural shift has led to the creation of many home grown corporate leaders as well like Dania Beach’s Chewy.com or Wellington’s B\E Aerospace. It’s paying dividends today.
- Pandemic resistant? You likely remember the horror stories this spring with economists predicting unemployment rates nationally would equal or even exceed the 25% rate at the peak of the Great Depression. During those dire days of predictions, Florida’s projected unemployment rate was to be the third highest in the country – reaching 30%. Even at the peak of unemployment this year we didn’t hit a number even half that large as Florida’s rate peaked at 14.5% - a number that barely exceeded the peak we reached during the prior recession when businesses weren’t locked down and forced out of business. And what happened as soon as Governor DeSantis realized lockdowns weren’t the answer? Jobs, jobs, jobs. Florida’s unemployment rate is 8% lower than it was at the peak of the lockdowns and is 5.5% lower than when Rick Scott became governor. In the middle of a pandemic that’s led to a 60% decline in travel and entertainment venues either offline or averaging 20% of normal capacity. Florida’s weekly unemployment claims dropped to yet another pandemic low yesterday ensuring Florida’s unemployment rate will have continued to drop meaningfully during the month of November. What most economists missed about Florida this recession, is how much has changed in ten years. Led by a governor with the foresight of Rick Scott ten years ago and one today who will error on the side of personal responsibility and liberty over lockdowns, Florida’s economy isn’t pandemic proof, but it’s at least been highly pandemic resistant, and it’s been a decade in the making.
Photo Credit: Getty Images