Now comes the more daunting challenge: Keeping the all-important sector a float during 2021. With COVID-19 still a factor that won’t be easy, but there are reasons for optimism as the new year approaches. After one of the most difficult economic years ever, the Inland Empire’s manufacturing sector will enter 2021 …
Read More »IE manufacturing bounces back … for now
At least for the moment, the Inland Empire’s manufacturing sector is back on the positive side of the ledger. The region’s purchasing managers index in November was 55.5, down from 61 in September, according to data released by the Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis at Cal State San …
Read More »State unemployment falls to single digits
California’s unemployment rate fell to 9.3 percent in October, down nearly two points month-over-month, according to data released Friday. Non-agricultural jobs grew by 145,500 between September and October, the third-largest job gain since 1990, the state Employment Development Department reported. California’s unemployment rate remained well above the national rate, 6.9 …
Read More »IE manufacturing does the two-step … again
Inland Empire manufacturing performed superbly in October, completing a two-month pattern that began in March when COVID-19 hit. The region’s purchasing managers index was 61, up from 53.4 in September and 11 points above 50, the dividing line that determines whether manufacturing is expanding or contracting, the Institute of Applied …
Read More »COVID-19 casts a cloud over the 2020 holiday shopping season
The pandemic makes it all but impossible to predict how much will be spent during the most crucial time of the year for most retailers, or whether people will spend at all. The only safe bet is that e-commerce spending, already popular, is about to become more so. Predicting how …
Read More »Pandemic scrambles Christmas hiring outlook
Yes, temporary retail jobs will be available this holiday season, but COVID-19 makes it difficult to predict how many. Look for a slowdown compared with last year. Last year, U.S, retailers added 702,000 workers to assist with the holiday season. That was a 12.2 percent increase from 2018, when the …
Read More »