'A Little Bit of a Retrenchment'.(Florida's economic forecast)

The nation's economic downturn is impacting Florida -- but the state is protected to some extent.

Florida is not immune from a recession, economists say, but a slowdown isn't likely to hit the state as hard as the rest of the U.S. economy. The regional reports that follow in FLORIDA TREND's annual Economic Yearbook reflect, with few exceptions, healthy local economies whose prospects in the coming year remain quite good.

So far, the national slump is concentrated in manufacturing, and Florida has only half the national average of manufacturing plants. Still,