Florida has always been a hotbed for the real estate industry.  Recently there has been much real estate speculation going on and with the bursting of the real estate bubble in 2007, the city of Miami has taken some massive economic hits.  The city’s unemployment rate recently shot past 11%, giving those in the area and across he nation the impression that Miami’s economy and employment environment has been damaged by the recession about as much as nearly any other US city.  The economic plight of Miami will likely not improve until the real estate market bottoms out.  One major concern has been the possible collapse of the commercial real estate market.  This potential collapse would hurt Miami even more, and likely lead to the flight of thousands away from the city to more prosperous and more promising locales.

The economy of Miami is built around a few major pillars- real estate, transportation and shipping, and tourism.  Recently, all three of these sectors have been hit hard by the hurricane-force winds of the global economic recession.  Port cities are important for our national economic health and security, and Miami is certainly high on the list of strategically important sea ports.  But since the entire world has been affected by the economic slow down, there is far less international trade across borders, which is hurting port cities like Miami.

The tourism sector is doing poorly as well.  There is far less money being spent and consumers are less willing to travel long distances when taking vacations.  Miami was built around the tourism sector and this recent cutback in tourism has hurt the city’s economy deeply.  Retail and service employment sectors are also down in the city.  No one can get ahead in Miami any more.

While the state of Florida’s unemployment rate is lower than that of Miami’s, the entire state will likely lag behind the rest of the nation when a recovery occurs.  The jobs just aren’t there, and this is further exacerbating the issues of high rates of foreclosure and financial ruin.  The adjustable rate mortgages and sub-prime lending crisis has really nailed Miami.  This was once a place of real estate excess, where anyone with a pulse was happy to invest.  Now, due to the liaise-fare lending practices, Miami is finding itself in the middle of a credit and real estate crisis that goes further than the boundaries of many other states.

There is very little if any employment growth in the Miami area.  All sectors have show job shrinkage.  It’s a great place to real estate and business speculators to buy up capital on the heap, but it’s a risky play as well.  Whether or not Miami will recover from the recession in the next decade is unclear.  It will certainly take a lot of recovery in the most basic of markets and economic indicators before Miami can have a chance to pick up the pieces.  Tourism will likely play a large role in the speed and size of the turn around.  As soon as Miami and the rest of Florida can begin attracting tourists again in large numbers, they will begin to be able to start recovering economically.