Economy

Even better, they might keep dropping. Analysts are citing a number of factors for the decline, but it’s apparently not a temporary phenomenon, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. With the Christmas season around the corner, the drop couldn’t have happened at a better time for retailers. No, you …

National retail sales remained strong last week, which was good news as the start of the holiday shopping season draws closer. Sales were up 2.1 percent for the week that ended Saturday compared with the same week in 2013, and up 1.5 percent compared with the previous week, according to …

National retail sales posted a 4.6 percent increase last month compared with October 2013, according to a report released last week. Minus the impact of gasoline prices, the increase would have been six percent, according to data released Thursday by the International Council of Shopping Centers. The year-over-year jump is …

The U.S. economy added 214,000 jobs in October, as the national unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is the lowest unemployment rate recorded since July 2008. On the down side, average hourly pay rose only three cents, to …

National retail sales slowed last week, with most sectors posting only modest gains. Sales were up 1.8 percent year-over-year for the week that ended Saturday and were down 1.6 percent compared with the previous week, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales …

Manufacturing in the Inland Empire is back on track, at least for now. The region’s purchasing manager’s index for October was 52.6, according to the monthly report on manufacturing released Monday by the Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis at Cal State San Bernardino. That was nearly a four-point …