IE manufacturing, economy keep growing

Inland Empire manufacturing continued to grow in February, bolstered by a sharp rise in employment and in spite of inflationary pressures.

The region’s purchasing managers index in the second month of the year was 54.8, up from 51 in January, according to the monthly report on manufacturing published by the Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis at Cal State San Bernardino.

That was the 18th consecutive month the index has been above 50, meaning local manufacturing and the local economy have grown uninterrupted during that time.

However, a lot of factors could reverse that trend.

“With the conflict/war between Russia and Ukraine, inflation on the rise, an increase in borrowing rates, snarled supply chains, and talks of gas prices higher than ever seen before, we expect to see continued economic volatility in the Inland Empire economy,” said Barbara Sirotnik, director of the institute, in the statement.

Twelve percent of the purchasing managers surveyed said they expect the local economy to get stronger during the next three month, while 40 percent said they expect it remain unchanged and 48 percent said they expect It get weaker, according to the report.