Economy

The Inland Empire recorded a 5.1 percent unemployment rate in December, essentially unchanged month-over-month but well above the 3.7 percent predicted one year earlier, according to data released Friday. California’s unadjusted unemployment rate during the last month of 2023 was 5.1 percent, while the national rate was 3.7 percent, the …

U.S. retail sales during the 2023 holiday season grew 3.8 percent compared with 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Despite inflation and higher interest rates, sales in November and December totaled $964.4 billion, a record that easily surpassed the $929.5 billion in sales recorded the year prior, the census …

The Inland Empire needs to develop its own identity and stop being a stepchild to Los Angeles and Orange counties, a renowned local developer declared this week. Riverside and San Bernardino must also fight harder to get their fair share of revenue from Sacramento, and work to make certain the …

California accounted for nine percent of all U.S. exports in November, up from 8.8 percent the previous month and up 8.6 year-over-year, according to data released this week. The state’s export trade was worth $14.8 billion during the next-to-last month of 2023, up 1.2 percent from November 2022, although the …

One year ago, most economists were predicting a recession – some said a severe one – in the United States in 2023. Today, after 12 months of stronger-than-expected growth and inflation seemingly under control, most of those same economists are making a different forecast, and most of the time it …

Manufacturing in the Inland Empire is contracting, although not by much, according to data released Jan. 4. The region’s purchasing managers index was 49.6 in December, the third consecutive month that number was below 50, the Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis at Cal State San Bernardino reported. Three …