Economic outlook looks weak

An economist told Sarasota officials at a 2012 Sarasota County Economic Outlook luncheon Thursday that the economic recovery is “below par” and will take years to stabilize both here and all over the country.

Dr. Sean Snaith, an economist and director of the Institute for Economic Competiveness at the University of Central Florida told a crowd of more than 100 people at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota he believes “the sins, transgressions and policy missteps during and in the wake of the recession will cause the turnaround to be slower than usual.”

Snaith says Sarasota and the country can continue to see a slowdown in growth for the first quarter of 2012, mainly because of a labor market that’s struggling to recover locally.

Despite the bad news, Snaith said Florida began its slow recovery in 2010, but urged those in attendance they won’t see noticeable job growth until 2013 and 2014.

“We are on wobbly legs here,” Snaith said. “We’ve seen slow growth since 2010, but it’s been wobbly growth.”

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].