Florida’s unemployment rate remained at 12 percent in December, leaving the Sunshine State with the same unemployment rate it started with at the beginning of 2010, and 2.6 percent above the national jobless rate of 9.4 percent.

The pace of the recovery in the nation is moderating and the lift spurred by nearly $800 billion in federal stimulus spending is fading, but there are several promising signs that growth will continue, including in Florida, a leading national fiscal analyst told reporters Friday morning.