Some of the Best business prospects: tourism, international trade, technology, and aerospace. Some of the Worst: Health Services, Apparel Industry, and the motion picture/TV production will release its 2004-2005 Southern California economic forecast and industry outlook that will answer these questions: how will the state’s budget problems impact the local economy? What industries have the best growth prospects? What are the development hot spots in Southern California?
Los Angles, CA (PRWEB) February 7, 2004 –“The economy of Southern California is on a growth track in 2004, but the state’s poor business environment will limit job growth in the area,” said Chief Economist and Senior Vice President Jack Kyser, Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC). Moreover, many of the new jobs created will tend to be in lower wage occupations.”
The LAEDC’s 2004-2005 Economic Forecast and Industry Outlook,” was released today (Monday, Feb. 9, 2004) at a workshop on state budget impacts on tourism, energy, transportation, population and housing. It can be downloaded at www.MayoCommunications.com or at http://laedc.info/pdf/LAEF-2004-02.pdf.
“The industries with the best growth prospects include: classic aerospace, international trade, and tourism, while the technology sector will be turning around. The health services sector will continue to struggle during the year, but ironically there will still be a decent rate of job creation,” said Kyser.
Local governments will see job losses during 2004, reflecting the state budget debacle. LAEDC contends a close watch also has to be kept on the entertainment industry, due to major contract negotiations at mid-year. “This industry continues to struggle with run-away production and the growing threat of piracy.”
New home construction in the region will ease back a little from 2003, which in most cases was the strongest performance since 1990. “However, the region’s population continues to grow, so the ‘housing deficit’ will remain a problem,” explained Kyser. “There is concern about a housing ‘bubble,’ but interest rates are forecast to increase moderately over the next two years, while the economy will be healthy. This is a much different situation from the early 1990s.”
The forecast noted that the region’s population will continue to grow, as will international trade. However, this was characterized as a “good news . . . bad news” scenario. While population growth means increased demand for goods and services, it also means that the region’s multiple “deficit” will worsen, including housing and transportation. Growth of international trade also means more jobs and opportunity, but this will just more pressure on the region’s already overburdened transportation infrastructure, the study said.
