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New Report Shows Increasingly Positive Trends in Riverside Economy
This week Beacon Economics released its second Intelligence Report for the City of Riverside, including summaries of the state and national economic conditions and outlook.
 Sponsored by The City of Riverside and the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, Beacon was retained to provide the community with a detailed overview of the local economy so that businesses and the agencies working to help businesses can develop better short and long-term strategies. The report was undoubtedly the most positive summary of economic conditions since the onset of the Great Recession. According to Beacon, the reason for that is largely because "The fundamentals are finally starting to catch up with expectations," adding that "the contributions to growth from consumer spending, business investment, and residential construction all accelerated at the end of the year, and the first quarter of 2013 looks even better." Even the seemingly negative aspects of 2012's fourth quarter - a draw-back in inventories and reduction in defense spending - received a positive forecast for 2013 based on increasing manufacturing orders and anticipatory cuts in spending by the US Defense Department that were absorbed in 2012. Still, the national budget, changes to the national healthcare system, and slower-to-recover non-residential construction are noted as economic challenges looking ahead. At the state level, California's recovery appears to be even stronger than expected. Recent revisions to the state jobs report shows that California has added back 680,000 of the 1.3 million jobs lost during the downturn, making the state "one of the driving forces in the nationwide jobs recovery." In addition, Inland Southern California is outpacing many other areas of the state in job growth.   | | According to Beacon, total private employment grew by 3.4% from February 2012 to February 2013, outpacing the 3% growth experienced by the region and the 2.5% pace of the state over the same period. |
Locally, the City of Riverside continues to play a vital role in the regional recovery. According to Beacon, total private employment grew by 3.4% from February 2012 to February 2013, outpacing the 3% growth experienced by the region and the 2.5% pace of the state over the same period. While the growth was felt across most sectors, the 1.6% year-over-year increase in Professional and Business Services and the 4.5% in the Professional, Scientific and Management subsector may be the most promising for long-term positive impact to the economy. (Click here to read more and download the full Regional Intelligence Report.) | 
