Business

The Inland Empire will gain more than 40,000 jobs this year, moving it closer to recovering the 143,100 jobs it lost during the recession, the region’s chief economist said today. If that prediction holds true, Inland Southern California will have replaced 85.1 percent of the jobs it lost between 2008 …

Retail sales nationwide were a mixed bag last week. Year-over-year sales were up 2.3 percent for the week that ended Saturday, but they were down 0.3 percent compared with the previous week, which ended April 5, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Stores …

Stater Bros. Charities has raised more than half a billion dollars for the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association. The supermarket chain’s Heart Month Campaign in February, in which shoppers were asked to donate as they made their purchases, raised $543,488, said Susan Atkinson, president and chief executive …

A federal mediator has been summoned to help solve the ongoing labor dispute between the United Food & Commercial Workers Union and three of the largest supermarket chains in Southern California.   A spokesman for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service confirmed that someone from that organization will participate in …

The mega-retailer is considering putting a grocery store in the city, but some residents and merchants say they would prefer someone else. Meanwhile, the city says it has to fill the space as soon as it can. Most retailers come to a city with little or no local opposition. So …

Family Dollar Stores Inc. will close 370 stores, cut staff and reduce the number of stores it plans to open, the result of lower-than expected second-quarter profits. The discount chain, which operates about 15 stores in the Inland Empire, also said it plans to cut prices on about 1,000 items …