Economy

The U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in April, a slight rebound from the lackluster first three months of the year. The unemployment rate fell to 5.4 percent, down from 5.5 percent in March and the lowest it’s been in seven years, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Department …

Mom is getting even more popular. U.S. consumers will spend an average of $172.63 this year to mark Mother’s Day, up $10 from last year and the highest level of spending in at least 12 years, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2015 Mother’s Day Consumer Spending Survey. Total spending …

Manufacturing in the Inland Empire recorded another solid month in April. The two-county region’s purchasing managers index last month was 60, the seventh consecutive month it’s been above 50 and the highest it’s been in three years, said Barbara Sirotnik, director of the Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis …

Inland motorists are taking a hit at the service station. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline recently went up 26 cents, to $3.41, according to a report in The Press-Enterprise. That price was recorded Friday. That’s one of the largest increases ever recorded in the region, adding …

U.S. retail might be moving backwards. Some online retailers say they will consider opening brick-and-mortar stores during 2015, according a report by the International Council of Shopping Centers. The study, which cited data taken from an eBay survey of 1,000 Internet businesses, found that 75 percent of those businesses expect …

The Inland Empire industrial market showed no signs of slowing down during the first quarter of this year. An estimated 5.2 million square feet of industrial space was absorbed during the first three months of this year, the two-county region’s 22nd consecutive quarter of positive net absorption, according to the …