The Southern California economy will continue to improve over the next two years, with job gains led by Orange County and the Inland Empire, two of the areas hardest hit in the region’s economic crash, an economic think tank said Wednesday.
Driving the recovery overall will be high-tech manufacturing and services, tourism and entertainment, according to a report by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. released Wednesday. Also pushing the economy forward will be professional and business services and a resurgence in construction.
But cutbacks in state and local government spending and continued difficulty in the financial sectors will put a drag on some of that growth.
Statewide, however, California is expected to outpace the national economy, the Economic Development Corp. said in its report.
Over the past year, the Bay Area and Silicon Valley have added the most jobs in the state. Non-agricultural jobs grew up 3.4% in San Jose last year, and jobs in San Francisco increased by 2.5%.
Job recovery in Southern California was slower, with an increase of about 1.6% in both Orange County and San Diego.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
The Los Angeles metropolitan area added jobs at the slightly slower pace of 1.4%, although that rate has increased over the last six months of 2012 to 1.8%.
