More than half of voters in the Sunshine State–53 percent–think Florida’s economy is doing better than the rest of the nation.
That’s the findings of a poll of likely voters that the Florida Chamber of Commerce released on Thursday.
Less than a quarter of those surveyed–24 percent–think Florida is doing worse economically than the rest of the nation.
“Florida has created 44,500 jobs in the last month and 300,600 jobs in the past year. The Sunshine State’s rolling annual growth rate of 3.2 percent is a full percentage point higher than the national level and July’s 0.5 percent increase in jobs was five times the growth at the national level. Looking back over the last year, Florida created one in 12 U.S. jobs, while similarly sized New York created only one in 27 jobs. The unemployment rate in Florida at 2.7 percent is lower than other large states (the unemployment rate in California is at 4.6 percent, Texas is at 4.1 percent and New York is at 3.9 percent),” the Florida Chamber noted.
“Florida’s economic momentum continues to outpace the nation,” said Mark Wilson, the president and CEO of the Florida Chamber. “Thanks to the leadership of Governor DeSantis and legislative leaders like House Speaker Paul Renner and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, recent legislative action reining in runaway litigation that drives up costs for Florida families and local businesses will pave the way for more competition and Florida’s continued growth.”
The poll also found most voters–61 percent–backed DeSantis’ and Florida’s policies during the COVID pandemic while 30 percent think the state should have pursued more restrictions.
The poll of 604 likely voters in Florida–including 263 Republicans, 243 Democrats and 98 voters registered outside the major parties–was taken from Aug. 9 through Aug. 19 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.
