AP
TALLAHASSEE - With first-time unemployment claims spiking last week, a top Florida economist is cautioning that the vital, but battered, tourism industry is in for another difficult spring because of COVID-19.
Amy Baker, coordinator of the Legislature’s Office of Economic & Demographic Research, told lawmakers Wednesday that despite improved tax-revenue numbers for December, big-spending foreign tourists aren’t expected to flock to Florida in the coming months because of the pandemic.
“It s possible we re going to see a greater negative impact coming from this quarter, but not necessarily a worsening of conditions,” Baker said, referring to the January-through-March period that typically ends with an influx of spring breakers. “But we re going to have lost the big volume of people that usually help us.”
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A top Florida economist told lawmakers Thursday that financial problems could linger for a couple of years because of the resurging coronavirus pandemic, as first-time unemployment claims tripled in the first full week of 2021.