Central Florida’s economy faces mixed signals. Here’s what leaders see ahead

Central Florida's economy faces mixed signals. Here's what leaders see ahead

ByOrlando Business Journal staf report, July 16, 2026

What to make of Central Florida's economic outlook - both in terms of what has happened so far in 2026 and what will happen through the year's end - sort of depends on whom you ask. So, we asked more than a dozen professionals, spanning several sectors, to paint a picture of how the region's business leaders are navigating these choppy waters.

Read more about Central Florida's 2026 Mid-Year Economic Outlook in the July 17-23 print edition of Orlando Business Journal, and keep an eye out on the OBJ website throughout the week for additional expert insight.

The big picture: How's it going?

The broader economy

"I think the economy remains strong when you look at the basic fundamentals with where the employment numbers are. Inflation will be higher than what people want. If you consider long term, it's pretty reasonable. If you look at the last quarter, quarterly earnings from publicly traded companies are really strong. The basic foundation of our economy today is pretty strong; there are still cracks. Housing remains a crack, and I hear conflicting data. … From a banking perspective, I feel good about where our clients are."

- Chirag Bhavsar, president and CEO, Cogent Bank; CEO, CNL Financial Group

How Florida is faring

"Our population growth has slowed dramatically. The most startling thing that has happened is the net domestic migration. We used to talk about Florida's economy being supported by tourism, agriculture and retiree in-migration. … Since 2022, our domestic migration from other states has dropped to historic lows. There's been more people moving from state to state in North Carolina and Tennessee compared to Florida. I have never seen that in 50 years of doing this analysis. That is a startling structural change. … Our migration policies have changed dramatically, and legal foreign migration has plummeted. Our population growth is consistent with levels that were considered recessions in the past. If we have much lower population growth, it makes our economy slow down. Unemployment is above the national average for four years; on a year-over-year basis we had no job growth. I've never seen no net new job growth in Florida during a non-recession year."

- Hank Fishkind, president, Fishkind Consulting