Wall Street Bond Agency Lifts Credit Watch on County

A major Wall Street bond rating agency took Los Angeles County off credit watch Thursday but said the outlook for the county’s rating remains negative unless the Board of Supervisors makes more progress at bringing spending under control.

Standard & Poor’s said in a statement that the county’s long-term credit ratings will remain at the same low level as last August. While the county’s fiscal problems remain serious, its budget is no longer in the crisis of last summer, the agency said.

The agency placed the county on credit watch in June 1995 and downgraded the long-term credit rating to its lowest level in history last August when the county was in the midst of its worst fiscal crisis.