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

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Florida went into the recession nine months aheadx of the rest of theUnited States, and excessesx in housing and commerciak real estate are considerably worse than the nationh as a whole, the report says. Statewide, the median sales price of existinh homes is down about 45 percent from the peak of the housingt boom inNovember 2005, but the drop in the Tampa Bay area is even steeper at about 60 percent. Employmentg conditions continueto deteriorate, the report says.
The state’s unemploymenyt rate is expected to top out aroundd11 percent, Wachovia projects, with a loss of 720,00 jobs, including 430,000 jobs lost this reported 137 layoff events during the first more than double the previous Job losses are heaviest in industriess with direct ties to the building boom, includingv construction and manufacturing, Wachovia said. Wachovia estimates Floridianas saw a net lossof $1.2 trillion in household wealthh during 2008 with aboutt two-thirds of that drop occurring in financial assets.