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At the onset of the pandemic in the first quarter of 2020, economic output in the United States fell for the first time in more than a decade. The following quarter was even worse, and marked the largest economic contraction for the U.S. economy in more than 70 years.
Although the economy started to rebound in the third quarter of 2020, GDP remains well below what it was a year and a half ago. Since the third quarter of 2019, the U.S. economy has contracted by 2.8%, according to a study by 24/7 Wall Street analyzing GDP data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Florida, however, saw a smaller decrease than the average U.S. state, decreasing by 2.0% during that span, according to the study.
Florida’s decrease was largely due to steep declines in sectors related to tourism — including arts, entertainment and recreation — which saw a 26.5% decrease, along with declines in food and accommodation services. The Sunshine State’s economy bottomed out in the second quarter of 2020, the report shows, with a GDP of $880.4 billion. That's down 7.4% from where it is now.
On a national scale, the economies for 33 states were dinged harder than Florida. Hawaii at -8.2%, Wyoming at -7.9%, Oklahoma at -6.3%, New York at 5.8% and West Virginia at -5% were hit the hardest by the pandemic.
Three states reported economic growth over the course of the study: Utah at 1.1%, Washington at 0.5% and Idaho 0.1%.
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