Economy

Valentine’s Day spending is expected to reach $25.8 billion this year, including $14.2 billion spent on “significant others,” according to the National Retail Federation. “Retailers are ready to help customers this Valentine’s Day with meaningful and memorable gifts,” said Matthew Shay, the federation’s president and chief executive officer, in the …

The Inland Empire industrial market continued to slow during the fourth quarter of 2023, with vacancy on the rise and leases and sales in decline. Vacancy rose a “whopping” 94 basis points in the last three months of 2023, to 4.8 percent, with total vacant space rising to 32.2 million …

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 …