Out-of-staters moving here dips, Census says
ORLANDO (AP) – For the first time since the 1940s, more people moved out of Florida last year than new residents moved in from other states as the economic slump has halted years of explosive population growth in the Sunshine State.
Florida reported a net loss of 9,286 domestic residents between July 2007 and July 2008, according to U.S. Census data released this month. But that loss was offset by a net gain of 77,427 new international residents, mainly as immigrants arrived from Latin America and other points abroad.
The loss of domestic residents who once flocked to the state’s beachside condo towers and palm-tree lined neighborhoods also was offset by more births than deaths during the year, according to data.
The Census data looked at population changes from July 2007 to July 2008 in Florida, which has 18.3 million residents and is the nation’s fourth most populous state.
It was the first time Florida has experienced a year-to-year loss in domestic migration since the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic Research began keeping records in 1972. It also was probably the first dip since shortly after World War II, when soldiers who had come to Florida for training returned home after the war, said Stanley Smith, the bureau’s director.
“This, I think, is much more fundamental and related to the national economic situation and the recession,” Smith said.
The state’s 9.5 percent unemployment rate is the highest since 1975, which translates into fewer jobs to attract new workers. A nationwide housing slump also has cast trouble for out-of-state residents seeking to sell their homes to move to Florida.