Economy

The Inland Empire recorded an unemployment rate of 5.3 percent in June, up from a revised 4.3 percent in May and above the 4.8 percent estimate of one year ago, according to recent report. This compares with an unemployment rate of 5.3 percent for California during the sixth month of …

California exported approximately $15.8 billion in goods in May, a 5.4 percent increase from exactly one year earlier, according to a recent study. The state’s share of U.S. merchandise exports in the fifth month of the year was 9.1 percent, essentially unchanged year-over-year, Los Angeles-based Beacon Economics reported. During May …

The Inland Empire’s purchasing managers index fell below 50 in June, a sign of a possible contraction in that sector, according to a report. Last month’s 48.6 index, down from 51.1 in May, marked the first time since January the index fell below 50, the Institute of Applied Research and …

At $16 an hour, California has one of the highest minimum wage mandates in the country. Last September, the state got even more generous when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law AB-1228, which raised the minimum wage of fast-food worker to $20 an hour. That law, which was backed by …

Inland Empire employers added 2,700 non-agricultural jobs month-over-month in May, a solid increase for the two-county region, according to data released last week. The unemployment rate in Riverside and San Bernardino counties during the fifth month of the year was 4.3 percent, down from a revised 4.8 percent in April, …

U.S. retail sales rose sharply in May, increasing both month-over-month and year-over-year, the National Retail Federation reported. Total sales, not counting gasoline and automobiles, were up 1.35 percent from April and three percent from May 2023, the federation reported. The April-to-May data was adjusted for seasonal factors that typically impact …