Economy

California’s unemployment rate continued to improve in January. The state’s jobless rate fell to 6.9 percent during the first month of the year, a modest drop compared with December but down from 8.1 percent in January 2014, according to the state Employment Development Department. California added 67,300 jobs in January. …

Unemployment fell in all 50 states and the District of Columbia last year. Overall, the national jobless rate fell to 6.2 percent in 2014, a year-over-year drop of 1.2 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Perhaps even more encouraging, the employment-population ratio – which measures the percentage …

Manufacturing in the Inland Empire turned in another solid month in February. The region’s purchasing managers index was 59, a substantial increase compared with the 53.5 recorded in January, according to the monthly report on manufacturing released Monday by the Institute of Applied and Policy Analysis at Cal State San …

Job growth in the Inland Empire is outperforming California’s job growth, as well as some of the state’s larger metropolitan areas. Employment grew 2.6 percent last year in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, compared with 2.2 percent growth statewide, according to report by the non-profit Los Angeles County Economic Development …

Employment in California is expected to grow during the next two years, as the state’s economy continues to make steady improvement, a report released Wednesday predicted. Employment will increase 2.2 percent this year and 2.1 percent in 2016, while the state’s unemployment rate will fall to 6.7 percent by the …

National retail sales are expected to rise 4.1 percent this year, according to the National Retail Federation. That would be the largest increase since 2011, when sales increased 5.1 percent year-over-year, according to the federation’s annual national retail forecast, which was released Thursday. Sales were up 3.5 percent last year. …