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TALLAHASSEE — Florida officials are trying to turn lemons into lemonade after a bevy of sobering economic news befell the state of Florida last week.

On Friday, a pair of economic indicators came out showing the state continues to suffer from a national economic malaise brought on by tight credit, high fuel prices and increasingly skittish consumers.

In separate announcements, Gov. Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink unveiled plans to speed up spending and tap into federal dollars to create jobs and bolster the state’s housing market, which is now facing a record number of foreclosures.

Sluggish auto sales and consumers’ everyday spending prompted Florida economists to lower revenue estimates by as much as $1.8 billion over the current fiscal year.

Meeting to tweak the state’s fiscal forecast, a panel of economists from the governor’s office, the Department of Revenue and the Legislature lowered revenue estimates for the current fiscal year by up to $1.8 billion. Further, they say the trend of lower revenue would continue for the next several years.

For the fiscal year that began July 1, the panel concluded that previous estimates would fall by as much as 7.2 percent. Earlier this year, economist estimated that general revenue collections would total $25 billion.

Sales tax collections, the state’s largest generator of general revenue, were off $1.2 billion. The decline was led by taxes on auto sales, which according to some estimates fell by $500 million, or 14 percent.

Along with sluggish car sales, consumers appear to be purchasing less expensive vehicles, a trend that also reduced state collections on automobile insurance premiums.

Sales of nondurable goods also fell off from earlier estimates, dropping by up to $452 million for a 7 percent decline. Big-ticket sales were off as much as 10 percent.

In advance of the anticipated news, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday announced a proposal to accelerate about $30 billion in construction projects for which money has already been set aside but not spent.

Approved by previous legislators and sitting in the bank, the funds need to be tapped to invigorate the construction sector while expanding roadwork and school construction, Crist told reporters.

“It’s dough that’s ready to go,” Crist said.

Evidence of Florida’s sluggishness was reinforced Friday as the Agency for Workforce Innovation on Friday announced 96,800 jobs have been lost in Florida for the year ending in July. Florida’s 6.1 percent unemployment rate is the highest in 13 years.

Meanwhile, CFO Sink announced the formation of panel to explore federal programs available to homeowners who face losing their homes. The panel, made up of business executives and agency officials, scours federal programs for any aid that may avail itself.

Florida had the second highest number of foreclosures in the nation last month, posting 45,884 foreclosures — a 14 percent increase from the previous month. Florida’s foreclosure rate was the third highest in the country, with one foreclosure for every 186 households.

“We are facing a housing and economic crisis but we need to be prepared, just as we as Floridians know we need to be prepared for a storm,” Sink told reporters.

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Michael Peltier is the Daily News’ Tallahassee correspondent. E-mail him at mpeltier1234@comcast.net