If you picked up the most recent Time magazine, you probably saw a story captioned: ``A Shrinking Sunshine State.''

And, if you're like many Floridians who are sick of stewing in traffic, you got your hopes up.

The University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, which tracks population trends, recently reported that the state lost 58,294 residents between April 2008 and April 2009.

It's the first time since 1946 that Florida's population has dipped. The reason back then was the ending of World War II, when thousands of military personnel who'd been stationed here moved out.

The reason for today's downturn is a primitive, unbalanced economy that's been hammered especially hard by the recession. Unemployment in Florida is high, the cost of living is rising, and we lead the universe in home-mortgage foreclosures.

Some families are packing up and move elsewhere in search of work and affordable housing. That's the history of migration on this continent, going back to colonial times.

Still, the media seems fascinated by the possibility that Florida, which for the last 50 years has grown faster and more recklessly than other state, is finally losing its sunny allure.

From a Sept. 4 report on National Public Radio: ``The population loss comes as a shock to a state where growth is both an industry and a foundation of the economy.''

From an Aug. 30 article in The New York Times: ``Imagine the shock . . . to discover that traffic is now headed the other way. That's right, the Sunshine State is shrinking.''

Not fast enough, it isn't.

According to the UF study, the net loss of 58,294 persons lowers Florida's current population from 18,807,219 to 18,748,925. That's a drop of only about three tenths of one percent, which doesn't even qualify as a trickle, much less an exodus.

Yet ``shock'' over this statistic is the recurring theme of the news reports.

As William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, surmised to The Times: ``It's got to be a real psychological blow. I don't know if you can take a whole state to a psychiatrist, but the whole Florida economy was based on migration flows.''

With all due respect to Mr. Frey, you don't need a shrink to sort out what's going on in Florida. All you usually need is a grand jury.

For decades, the state's fiscal base has relied on exuberantly mismanaged growth. Since 1950, the population has more than sextupled. The stampede was gleefully abetted by short-sighted politicians and fueled by the twin attractions of mild climate and low taxes.

The underfunded infrastructure had no chance of keeping up with the influx, and the result made headlines for everyone to see: gridlocked highways, jam-packed schools, high crime, water shortages and a spate of other urban problems -- including higher and higher taxes.

It's no surprise that the three counties that lost the most residents -- Broward, Lee and Palm Beach -- are among the most overdeveloped, overcrowded and expensive places to live.

There is no sustainable model for an economy that depends on a constant stream of new residents. Migration inevitably slows, and sometimes even slips into reverse.

Anyone shocked by what's happening in Florida hasn't been paying attention. A more appropriate reaction to this puny population slide is concern (if you're a banker or a builder), gastric distress (if you're a tax collector), and very cautious optimism if you're somebody who moved here hoping for a certain quality of life.

The place has been totally out of control for too long. In the absence of responsible political leadership, it took a crushing recession to expose the Ponzi formula that made Florida look so prosperous.

Now, hundreds of thousands of homes and condos sit empty -- unfinished, unsold or foreclosed. Local governments that run on revenues from sales taxes and property taxes are slashing services. Many small businesses are closing, big businesses are laying off workers, and new jobs are scarce.

So some folks are hitting the road. That's what people do to survive in tough times.

Yet the suggestion that Florida is emptying out, as appealing as it might be to many who stay, is premature. According to Stan Smith at UF, about half the state's counties actually gained population last year.

He predicts that, as the national economy recovers, people will resume migrating here. If so, they won't be arriving at the crazed-lemming pace of 1,100-per-day, as in the boom years.

Meanwhile, we'll try to scrape by with only 18.7 million souls, and a per-acre density higher than California's.

A modest population shrinkage of 58,000 might be historic for a place like Florida, but it's not a shock.

It's more like a start.

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