IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Inland Empire business is in “clear-cut recovery mode” and will return to its pre-pandemic performance by the end of 2021, a report released earlier this week predicts.
Commerce in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties will rise between six and ten percent between now and the end of the year, as much of the damage caused by COVID-19 has faded, according to the latest Inland Empire Business Activity Index.
“The Inland Empire, and California overall, are primed for growth,” said Taner Osman, Research Manager at the UC Riverside School of Business Center for Economic Forecasting and Development, which publishes the index.
“The economic fallout the region suffered throughout the pandemic recession, while considerable, has been erased from many parts of the economy; lagging areas, such as the labor market, are not recovering as quickly as we would like but should be boosted by the accelerated rate of vaccinations.”
Labor continues to be the Inland Empire’s soft spot, having recovered only 67 percent of the jobs it lost in early 2020. Still, that’s better than Los Angeles and Orange County, which have recovered 36 percent and 47 percent, respectively, according to the index.
