Economy

Year-over-year unemployment dropped in 348 of 372 metropolitan areas in the United States during July. During the same time, the jobless rate rose in 16 metropolitan areas and stayed the same in eight markets, according to report released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Put …

Between January 2011 and the end of last year, an estimated 4.3 million U.S. workers lost jobs they had held for at least three years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was a decline from 6.1 million workers who suffered the same predicament between January 2009 through …

Unemployment in the Inland Empire moved up slightly last month. The two-county region recorded a 9.2 percent jobless rate in July, an increase of 0.8 percent from June but well below the 10.9 percent rate of July 2013, according to the California Employment Development Department. Riverside and San Bernardino counties …

August is looking like a strong retail month. National retail sales rose 3.8 percent year-over-year for the week that ended Saturday, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index. Sales have increased all three weeks this month compared with 2013, according to …

Housing affordability dropped in California during the second quarter of this year, as lower interest rates failed to offset an increase in home prices. The number of homebuyers who could afford a median-priced, single-family home in the state fell to 30 percent during the quarter, the California Association of Realtors …

National retail sales were a mixed bag last week. Sales were up a solid 3.2 percent year-over-year during the week that ended Saturday, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index, which was released Tuesday. Compared to the previous week, however, sales …