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US and Florida Economic Outlook

As we head into the second half of the year, we welcome Jackie Benson as this month’s speaker. Ms. Benson is a vice president and economist with Wells Fargo’s Corporate and Investment Bank and will provide the Club with her assessment of the Florida and U.S. economies for the rest of 2025 into 2026. Her presentation will include Florida’s resilience in the face of high interest rates and elevated economic uncertainty, and the impact of interest rates on the housing market. “You can't talk about the Florida economy without talking about the housing market,” Ms. Benson told Club Officers in a recent conference call. “Florida has one of the softest housing markets in the country, unfortunately. There's a lot of challenges facing the housing market, with high mortgage rates and rapid price appreciation. Florida is one of the least affordable states from that perspective,” she said. She’ll also discuss the strength of the state’s labor market, and of course, answer questions from our Club members. A Tarpon Springs, Florida native, Ms. Benson is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, covering the U.S. macroeconomy, including residential housing, commercial real estate, construction and regional economies. She regularly writes economic indicator reports and contributes to the group’s Weekly Economic & Financial Commentary. Prior to joining Wells Fargo in 2022, Ms. Benson served as a senior economist for the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee. Before that, she was a policy director at the American Action Forum, a policy research organization in Washington, D.C. She holds an M.S. in applied economics from Johns Hopkins University. She earned a B.S. in economics and a B.A. in political science from the University of Florida. Ms. Benson will be introduced by former Club Chairman Lo Bielby, Principal Shareholder for the Greenberg Traurig law firm.