Monthly State Revenue Outperforms Forecast by $447 Million

TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – A monthly revenue report from the Office of Economic and Demographic Research for the month of November showed Florida collected $447.2 million over the forecast assumptions, with slightly more than 92% of the total gain coming from sales tax.

The state raised $3.68 billion during the month of November, but it was projected to gain $3.23 billion.

The revenue reflects economic activity in Florida from the prior month, October.

The report says that all six sales tax categories exceeded estimates, including consumer nondurables, tourism, automobiles, other durables, building, and business.

Automobiles had the highest increase over estimates, being 24% above projections at $122 million.

Under Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida’s budget surplus has continuously broken projections.

Florida’s budget surplus for Fiscal Year 2021-22 hit $21.8 billion, making it the highest in state history.

Florida’s revenues even exceeded pre-pandemic estimates by more than $8 million. No money from the Federal Government is included in the $20 billion reserves.

DeSantis recently announced that Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.6 percent and Florida’s job growth continues to exceed the national rate.

The unemployment rate has reached the lowest percent among the nation’s top ten largest states and 1.1 percent lower than the nation’s.

“Florida’s continued success over the past two years is no accident. No matter the challenges, we have stayed on offense,” said DeSantis.

“Florida’s economy is outpacing the nation for the second consecutive year because we have invested in our workforce and prioritized keeping Floridians at work and businesses open. As the new year approaches, we will continue investing in our workforce and infrastructure to create jobs and keep our economy moving forward.”