Economy

California’s percentage of U.S exports slipped in January, mostly because of a drop of pharmaceutical shipments, according to a study released March 7. The state accounted 8.6 percent of goods shipped out of the country during the first month of the year, down from 8.9 percent in December and nine …

Two thirds of Americans say they’ve cut back on their spending because they’re concerned about the economy, while nearly 50 percent said they’ve put some “life plans” on hold for the same reason, a major U.S. financial institution has reported. Thirty-five percent say they have taken money out of their …

California added 58,100 non-agricultural jobs in January, enough to account for 16.5 percent of the nation’s job growth, according to data released March 8. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.2 percent during the first month of the year, up from 5.1 percent in December and from 4.5 percent …

Inflation is down, but one result of the battle with higher prices during the past several years – a growth in the popularity of private-label items in grocery stores – doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. In fact, it might be getting stronger. In 2023, private-label items were the “brightest …

Inland Empire manufacturing continued to bounce back in February, posting a purchasing managers index of 52.1. That was the second consecutive month the index was above 50 – January’s index was 54.8  – so if March comes in at 50 or better, manufacturing in Riverside and San Bernardino counties will …

U.S. retail sales are off to a good start in 2024. Total sales, not counting automobiles and gasoline, in January were essentially unchanged month-over-month and were up 2.3 percent compared with January 2023, according to the National Retail Federation. “January sales continued the strong performance of retail sales in December, …