“Florida’s population is shrinking — a disturbing trend for a state that has built its economy, and structured its state budget, on the assumption that throngs of new residents will move to its sunny shores each year,”
Later this month, Rick and Connie Desrochers will join a migration out of Florida that began before the housing market collapsed and the recession kicked in. In 2009, more than 500,000 people like them will leave. And for the first time since World War II, Florida’s population will actually shrink — by about 60,000 residents, state demographers estimate.
Growth has slowed in many places across the country as the recession stifles Americans’ ability to sell their homes and move. But in many ways, the slowdown is worse here because Florida’s economy has long been built on rapid growth.
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