Florida Design Consultants attended the PEDC Economic Forecast Luncheon on February 5th 2016 at the Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club in San Antonio, FL. The featured guest speaker this year was Dr. Sean Snaith, Ph.D./Director, Institute for Economic Competitiveness at the University of Central Florida. Dr. Sean Snath is a nationally recognized economist in the field of business and economic forecasting, he has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, and The Economist and has appeared on CNBC and Fox Business Network.
During Dr. Snaith’s presentation, he addressed the current economic conditions and reflected on the policies/regulations that have and will be implemented in the years ahead. He shared his outlook for Pasco County as well as the Tampa Bay region, the State of Florida, and the nation as a whole. A few of his statements from the Pasco Economic Development function are:
- “We are closer to the next recession than further from the last,” Snaith said at a Jan. 29 Dean’s Speaker Series hosted by the University of Central Florida College of Business. “I’m 100 percent sure there will be another. I’m just not 100 percent sure of when.”
- Snaith said when consumer spending habits shift is an indicator that a recession may be near. “When we go back in our shells, that’s when we’ll get nervous for the next recession,” he said. Consumer spending has been the driving force behind the recovery from the national economic recession that ended in 2009. A lack of consumer spending combined with other current economic challenges can signal trouble.
- On another note, Snaith said Florida’s housing market is seeing a dramatic decrease in the number of foreclosures and short sales, resulting in double-digit price appreciation. Also, the state’s unemployment rate is at 5 percent, down from 6 percent in October 2014. At the end of 2015, 21,000 new payroll jobs were added in Florida.
Dr. Sean Snaith, Ph.D. –Director, Institute for Economic Competitiveness at the University of Central Florida.