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RIVERSIDE, CA- – The first economic forecast conference focusing directly on the San Bernardino County economy took place August 17, hosted by the UCR School of Business Center for Economic Forecasting and Development. The event was intended to shine an analytic light on the county’s ongoing growth and bring together local policy and business leaders to discuss creative strategies for the region’s continued economic development.
Although the pace of job growth has slowed, the county is still adding jobs at a faster rate than the U.S. In addition to traditional regional industries such as transportation and logistics, local industries that have gained include education services, real estate, and notably, manufacturing, which bucked national and state trends of very low or no growth.
Key Findings for San Bernardino County:
- In 2016, the pace of job growth in San Bernardino County slowed. While last year’s growth rate of 2.3 percent was respectable, it fell short of previous years (’14: 4.9 percent, ’15: 4.7 percent), although the county grew at a faster pace than the U.S. as a whole (1.9 percent)
- The County outpaced the U.S. which grew by just 1.9 percent, but underperformed relative to California as a whole and nearby Southern California counties: Riverside County grew by 5 percent last year, and California and other Southern California counties grew between 2.4 percent to 2.7 percent.
- While transportation and logistics registered an impressive 9.2 percent job gain as expected, there were welcome gains in Education Services, up 8.4 percent from 2015 to 2016, and real estate, up 6.5 percent.
The housing market in San Bernardino County continued to improve in early 2017, with the median home price up by more than 8 percent in the second quarter of this year, at nearly $290,000. Meanwhile, permits for single-family homes in the first half of this year were up by one-third over last year (32.9 percent from first half of ’16 to first half of ’17).
The Center for Economic Forecasting and Development at UCR School of Business opened its doors two years ago and has been producing a wide variety of economic analysis ranging from revenue forecasts to gross metropolitan product reports.
