IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Inland Empire business activity grew by 4.7 percent in the first quarter of this year, up from 6.4 percent expansion during the fourth quarter of 2021, according to a report released Thursday.
The two-county region outperformed the nation, which saw its gross domestic product fall by 1.5 percent during the first three months of this year, the UC Riverside School of Business Center for Economic Forecasting and Development reported.
Inland business activity is expected to grow between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent by the end of the year, the report predicts.
“Despite greater instability in the macroeconomy today, there are still very few, if any, signs of weakness in the Inland Empire’s economic activity,” said Taner Osman research manager at the economic forecasting center and one of the index’s co-authors. “Employment has continued to expand and the workforce in the region is now larger than it was before the pandemic, something that is not true for the state as a whole.”
The effect of any national economic slowdown probably won’t be felt in the Inland region this year, Osman said.
