Real estate largest industry in Florida

Real estate is the number one industry in the state of Florida despite the recession.

Florida’s total GDP rose by 0.77 percent per year from 2006 through 2011 to $754.3 billion in current dollars, according to a report released by the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research.

Real estate accounted for 15.6 percent of the state’s GDP in 2011. Government accounted for 12.9 percent of Florida’s total economy in 2011, up from 10.5 percent in 2006.

Meanwhile, the biggest private-sector growth industry was health care and social assistance, which rose by 6.4 percent a year to $66.3 billion in 2011.