According to KPCC, California’s top region for job growth is not in the Silicon Valley, where new tech jobs are getting all the attention, it’s the Inland Empire. According to Inland Empire economist John Husing’s annual economic forecast for 2018, jobs in San Bernardino and Riverside counties grew by 3.5 percent during 2017. This increase is almost triple the growth rate in Los Angeles County and a full percentage point higher than growth in Silicon Valley. Husing states,
They’re not the job engine. We are. When the people in L.A. go online and buy something, it is being delivered from a distribution operation and trucking operation in the Inland Empire
It turns out that the Inland Empire is outpacing more than just the rest of California when it comes to job growth. According to a recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, the Inland Empire was among the nation’s 51 largest metropolitan areas. The Inland Empire was matched only by the Austin, Texas area for the largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment. The sector creating the most Inland Empire jobs in recent years is logistics thanks to e-commerce companies such as Amazon. The downside here is that some of the Inland Empire’s fastest growing job categories such as logistics, construction, food and retail tend to be either blue collar or low-wage. Hopefully, the job growth continues in the Inland Empire and the economy continues to flourish in the region.
