Husing likes state of the local economy

The Inland Empire is again one of the fastest growing regional economies in California and has replaced all of the jobs it lost during the recession.

That was the message delivered Thursday by Inland economist during his annual assessment of the region’s economy, according to multiple published reports.

This year’s event, at the Double Tree Hotel in Ontario, drew an audience of about 400 from the public sector. Husing, whose event has been a mostly pessimistic affair the past few years, was able to tell the gathering that the Inland Empire has of late created more jobs than any
submarket in California, except for Los Angeles, even beating out the Bay Area.

Husing, who has been tracking the Inland economy since the mid-1960s, predicted that Riverside and San Bernardino counties will add more than 51,000 jobs this year with a growth rate of about four percent, the reports stated.

If that prediction holds true it will be the first time the region has had job growth of 50,000-plus three years in a row.