The state’s newest economic forecast says 2009 won’t be as bad as previously thought, though the economy will still contract this year.
The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism is projecting gross state product will fall 1.1 percent this year. That compares to the minus 1.6 percent decline it forecast earlier this year.

The state also revised its forecast for jobs downward and expects a 3.0 percent decline in the average job count for the year.
While the forecast for visitor arrivals was unchanged from the previous forecast, visitor expenditures have dropped and DBEDT now expects visitor expenditures to decrease by 11.5 percent in 2009.
“Our forecast for this period shows a more gradual decline,” said DBEDT Director Theodore E. Liu, in a press statement.
“We do not believe it is prudent to predict an economic recovery yet, and all indications are that any recovery will be gradual.”