Southern California’s economic growth is slowing but not as quickly as in the rest of the country, according a fourth-quarter analysis by California State University, Fullerton.
The university’s leading economic indicator rose 0.07%, according to associate professor of economics Adrian Fleissig, who created the forecasting tool. The increase was the smallest in 2000, he said. Still, he said, the regional result was better than the 0.79% drop for the U.S. during the fourth quarter.
The Southern California leading indicator consists of money supply, interest rates, Standard & Poor’s 500 index, non-farm employment, the unemployment rate, building permits and the Pacific region consumer confidence index.
Only three of the seven components increased during the fourth quarter, with an increase in money supply largely offset by a fall in the consumer confidence index, S & P; 500 and building permits.
The leading indicator grew from 114.17 in the third quarter to 114.25 in the fourth quarter. The gain was far lower than the 0.31% and 0.54% increases seen in the prior two quarters, according to Fleissig.
Employment in Southern California showed an increase in the fourth quarter of 1.01%.
The Southern California region in Fleissig’s study comprises Orange County as well as Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura and Imperial counties.
