Economy

The Inland Empire economy faces a dire threat from artificial intelligence, more so than other parts of California due to the fact that the two-county region has so many service sector jobs, according to a local economist. “AI is not coming, it’s already here, and it’s a direct threat to …

Nationwide retail sales posted a strong year-over-year gain in January – 5.4 percent – despite a letdown following a better-than-expected holiday shopping season. Total retail sales, not counting automobiles and gasoline, were down one percent between November and December, according to data compiled by the Retail Monitor for CNBC and …

California’s export trade was valued at $14.9 billion in December, essentially unchanged from one year earlier. During the same 12-month period, state exports fell to $166.072 billion from $167.724 billion, and California’s percentage of national exports – nine percent – was also effectively the same year-over-year, according to Beacon Economics …

Inland Empire manufacturing roared back to life in January, posting a purchasing managers index of 56.5 amid an across-the-board surge of new orders, production expansion, inventory growth and employment. That performance came one month after the region posted an index of 42.5, well below 50, the dividing line for determining …

Only 15 percent of California households could afford the state’s $874,290 median-priced home in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to the California Association of Realtors. That was a 16 percent drop from the third quarter, but unchanged compared with the fourth quarter of 2023, the Los Angeles-based trade association …

U.S. consumers are expected to spend $27.5 billion on Valentine’s Day this year, according to the National Retail Federation. That would top the $25.8 billion spent last year, and would be slightly higher than the previous record of $27.4 billion spent in 2020, the Washington, D.C.-based trade association reported. Shoppers plan …