Economy

July was a strong month for U.S. retail. Sales were up 5.4 percent year-over-year, according to data released Thursday by the International Council of Shopping Centers. That increase was particularly impressive given that sales rose 4.2 percent in July 2013, which created a “tough comparison” for this year, said Jesse …

For the second straight week, national sales rose dramatically year-over-year. Sales were up 4.5 percent for the week that ended Saturday compared with the same week in 2013, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Stores Sales Index. That figure was virtually unchanged from …

July was another good month for U.S. job growth. The economy added 209,000 jobs in July, the sixth consecutive month that the economy added at least 200,000 jobs, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Department. Despite that improvement, the national unemployment rate rose slightly to 6.2 percent, up …

Manufacturing in the Inland Empire continued to grow during July. The region’s purchasing manager’s index last month was 54.8, a slight increase compared with June, according to a report released Friday by Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis at Cal State San Bernardino. July was the fourth consecutive month …

Back-to-school shoppers gave U.S. retailers a large boost last week. National retail sales were up 4.6 percent for the week ending Saturday compared with the same week in 2013, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Stores Sales Index. Sales were up a modest …

White-collar jobs are increasing at a faster pace in California than the rest of the state’s employment sector. Professional services jobs, including engineers, accountants, architects, attorneys and consultants, have grown at twice the pace of other jobs since the recession officially ended in 2009, according to a report in the …