Economy

The 2018 edition of Inland Empire manufacturing is off to a good start. The region’s purchasing managers’ index in January was 57.1, up from 51 in December, according to the monthly report by the Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis at Cal State San Bernardino, which was released Thursday. …

California’s economy finished 2017 on a major upswing. The state added 52,700 jobs last month as its unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent, according to data released Friday by the state Employment Development Department. California has now added jobs for four consecutive months, and more than 2.7 million jobs since …

Retail sales during November and December totaled just under $692 billion, a year-over-year increase of 5.5 percent, according to the National Retail Federation in Washington, D.C. Higher wages, stronger employment and more consumer confidence prompted shoppers to spend more during the 2016 holiday season than they were expected to spend, …

The U.S. economy added 148,000 jobs in December, well below the 190,000 it was expected to create, according to data released Friday. That number was also well below the 252,000 jobs – a revised number – that were created November, the U.S. Department of Labor announced in its monthly jobs …

Year-over-year unemployment rates fell in 304 of the 388 metropolitan areas during November, according to data released Thursday. Also during November, joblessness was higher in 67 areas and did not change in the remaining 17 markets, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in its monthly unemployment report. Sixty nine …

Manufacturing in the Inland Empire expanded for the twelfth consecutive month in December. The region’s purchasing managers index was 51 during the last month of 2017, one point above the 50 benchmark that denotes growth or no growth, the Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis at Cal State San …