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The Sunshine State’s annual population growth will fall to its lowest level in 60 years, researchers at the University of Florida predict.

Florida is projected to grow by only 37,000 residents between 2008 and 2010 — a 90 percent decline from the boom years of 2002 to 2006, according to a report released Monday.

Most counties will continue to grow slowly, but 14 counties, including Broward and Palm Beach, are expected to shrink.

“The collapse of the housing market and the lingering effects of what has been the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression have put a real crimp on migration,” said Stan Smith, director of research at the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research, in a release.

The state grew annually by 395,000 people between 2000 and 2006, the report said. That figure dropped to 127,000 in 2007 and 2008 easy payday loans.

Smith also blamed job losses since employment is one of the main reasons people move to the state.

South Florida counties are hardest hit because the housing boom created jobs in construction, real estate and related industries. Many workers have since lost those jobs and moved away.

"Many of the counties in North Florida had not experienced the boom to the same degree as the counties in South Florida and, consequently, did not experience the bust to the same degree," Smith said.

Growth in the state is expected to pick up again as the economy recovers, and it will return to more normal levels over the next decade, provided the economic decline doesn’t worsen and another hurricane doesn’t hit Florida, Smith said.

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