Economy

Retail sales nationwide surged during the last two months of 2025, as consumers continued to make holiday spending a priority despite some choppy economic waters. Sales from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 grew 4.1 percent compared with the last two months of 2024, to a little more than $1 trillion, …

The Inland Empire recorded 5.4 percent unemployment in November, adding 18,400 non-agricultural jobs month-over-month, according to a report. California’s jobless rate during the next-to-last month of 2025 was also 5.4 percent, the state Employment Development Department reported. Both the local and state jobless numbers were unadjusted, meaning they don’t take …

Heading into 2026, the Southern California Association of Governments is less than bullish on the Inland Empire economy. In its 2025 Southern California Economic Update, published in December, the metropolitan planning agency that represents six of the 10 counties Southern California predicts rough economic waters in Riverside and San Bernardino …

California’s unemployment rate was 5.6 percent in September, essentially unchanged from the previous two months, according to data released Dec. 12. Four thousand five hundred non-agricultural jobs were lost statewide in September, which was the sixth consecutive month the number of unemployed workers in California has risen, the state Employment …

The National Retail Federation expects a record number of shoppers to hit the malls and shopping centers nationwide the Saturday before Christmas. An estimated 158.9 million people will shop Dec, 20, which would top the 157.2 million “Super Saturday” shoppers last year, and the previous record of 158.5 million set …

U.S. retail sales posted strong year-over-year growth in November, helped by the first days of what appears to be a positive holiday shopping season, according to the National Retail Federation. Excluding automobiles and gasoline, sales were up 4.5 percent year-over-year, and 1.2  percent month-over-month, the federation reported. The month-over-month data …