LOS ANGELES COUNTY - News from Dec. 26, 1994

The Direction Is Up: The county’s employment level will continue its slow climb, with more than 45,000 new jobs are expected in the county in 1995, up from the 11,100 new jobs in 1994. Unemployment rates will decrease from 9.3% to 8.5% in 1995. The aerospace industry will continue to take a hit, however, as another 18,000 jobs will be lost next year, a 12.8% drop from 1994. The economic recovery will boost total personal income in 1995 by $10 billion to $216 billion, and retail sales will increase by $2.2 billion to $51.9 billion. Housing permit requests are expected to increase nearly 15% to 8,500. Surprisingly, tourism increased 3.6% in 1994 despite the January earthquake, and a 2.2% increase is expected for 1995.