SANDESTIN — The damage the economic recession caused to Florida was worse than a hurricane, according to an economist who spoke at last week’s Gulf Power Economic Symposium.

Henry Fishkind, an Orlando-based economist who founded Fishkind & Associates in 1988, described the recession as an invisible hurricane that has set the state back years.

“This has been the worst recession since World War II, 23 straight months of contraction, a 4 percent decline in the gross domestic product,” Fishkind said. “The good news is it’s done. We only need to live with the consequences.”

The symposium returned to Baytowne Conference Center in Sandestin for its 14th year Tuesday. The session, which attracted 470 business and government leaders from Northwest Florida, featured speakers from around the state to discuss the impact the recession has had on Florida’s economy and its ongoing recovery.

The speakers discussed ways to accelerate business growth, build talent for the future and recover from one of the worst economic recessions in the nation’s history.

Fishkind said the state lost more than 10 percent of its total employment during the recession, with a large portion of those lost jobs in construction. Many of those jobs likely will never come back, he said.

Most Floridians will start to climb out from the recession next year, but Fishkind said they will have less wealth, spend less and pay higher taxes than before it started.

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