TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Stocks dropped dramatically today after the bond market used one of its last remaining warning flags on the economy.
The warning was the first of it’s kind since 2005, when the yield curve inverted briefly on Dec. 27 – about two years before the last recession.
The last inversion to occur before that recession was in 2007, according to U.S. Treasury data collected by the St. Louis Fed.
So how did the last recession – known as the Great Recession – impact Florida?
Just south of Tampa Bay, Lee County had one of the highest amounts of foreclosure across the country. The county also saw an increase of unemployment – from 3.3 percent to 13.1 percent in only three years.
But a Dec. 2018 study from research firm Chmura Economics & Analytics examined federal data to rank more than 3,100 counties across the country to find out which is the most balanced to handle the next major economic downturn, whenever it may be.
In that study, Hillsborough County ranked fourth and the Tampa Bay area ranked eighth for the most diverse economies in the country.
A major factor in the study was unemployment levels in each area.
In July, Florida reported a 3.4 percent unemployment rate, compared to the national unemployment rate of 4 percent.
While the downturn in stocks is daunting, Tampa Bay has improved its own economy since the last recession, putting it in a better position to withstand the next one.
