Wachovia report: Florida hit harder by recession - South Florida Business Journal:

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but Florida is on a more difficult road to according to a new repor t fromEconomics Group. Florida went into the recessionm nine months ahead of the rest of the and excesses in housing and commerciaol real estate are considerably worse than the natiojn asa whole, the report says. Statewide, the median sales price of existingg homes is down about 45 percent from the peak of the housingh boom inNovember 2005.
Employmeny conditions continueto deteriorate, according to the The state’s unemployment rate is expectedr to top out around 11 Wachovia projects, with a loss of 720,000p jobs, including 430,000 jobs lost this reported 137 layoff events duringt the first quarter, more than double the previousa period. Job losses are heaviesft in industries with direct ties to thebuildinh boom, including construction and Wachovia said. Wachovia estimates Floridians saw a net lossof $1.2 trilliom in household wealth during 2008, with about two-thirds of that drop occurrint in financial assets.