Floridians spend more as economy improves
December 2, 2015
Donna Gehrke-White Contact Reporter South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The good times started rolling again across Florida in 2014, new data shows.
With a rebounding economy, Floridians spent more in 2014, from eating out to buying things for the house, according to statistics released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
In fact, Florida outpaced the nation’s annual increase in personal consumption – 4.9 percent vs. 4.2 percent. Personal spending increased at a higher rate than Florida in only six other states and the District of Columbia.
The spending spike stemmed from a mix of factors, including more discretionary income from heightened economic activity and lower gasoline prices, but also because of rising costs for housing.
The 2014 spending increase occurred as Florida’s economic growth outpaced growth in the overall nation. Goods and services produced in Florida increased 2.7 percent last year compared with 2.2 percent nationally, the bureau said.
Growth in Florida topped all states east of the Mississippi River except West Virginia where the mining industry fueled a 5.1-percent increase in economic activity, bureau spokesman Thomas Dail said.
But spending by the average Sunshine State resident still trailed the national average in 2014 — $36,397 vs. $37,196, the bureau’s data shows.
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