Economy

Manufacturing in the Inland Empire continued to grow in November. The region’s purchasing managers index for the next-to-last month of 2017 was 54.7, essentially unchanged from October, according to data released Friday by the Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis at Cal State San Bernardino. Fifty or above means …

Seventy four percent of those who shopped on Thanksgiving Day-Black Friday spent as much or more than they did in 2016, good sign for the rest of this year’s holiday shopping season, according to a report released Wednesday. Also, 60 percent of the money spent by shoppers during that two-day …

Business activity in the Inland Empire grew 2.8 percent during the third quarter year-over-year, according to data released Tuesday. More growth is expected during the fourth quarter, although that expansion might be held back somewhat by a shortage of available workers and not enough housing in the two-county region, according …

California’s unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent in October, as state employers added 31,700 jobs, according to data released Friday. That represented a drop of 0.2 percent from September, the state Employment Development Department reported in its monthly assessment of the state’s job market. Most sectors posted gains, with leisure/hospitality …

U.S. employers added 261,000 non-agricultural jobs last month, as the economy appeared to snap out of the hurricane-induced slum it suffered through in September. Employment grew in food services and drinking establishes,  professional and business services, manufacturing, and health care, according to data released Friday by the Bureau Of Labor …

That was the consensus reached at a symposium at Claremont Graduate University, although participants agreed the federal health care program – better known as Obamacare – is far from perfect. The Affordable Care Act has been a boon to the Inland Empire by getting more people health care insurance while …