THE ECONOMY

UCLA Holds to 3% Job Growth Forecast: UCLA forecasters are holding to earlier predictions that California’s economy will see jobs grow roughly 3% a year for the next two years, outpacing the rest of the country, according to the latest quarterly Anderson Business Forecast, to be released today. The rate of job growth will moderate to 1.8% in 1998, and total job gains for the three years will total 987,000, the report said. Among the fastest-growing sectors: business services, including computer software and multimedia; motion pictures and television; and amusements and recreation. In manufacturing, meanwhile, net job growth will be flat, with new jobs in some industries offsetting continuing losses in aerospace and defense, the forecast said. The UCLA forecast follows one by BankAmerica Corp., which reported this week that the state’s economic recovery is moving ahead in every sector except housing. The state’s unemployment rate is at its lowest level in five years, businesses are generating jobs at twice the national rate, and personal income and taxable income sales are up, the San Francisco-based bank said in its annual report. Retail trade, construction, electronics manufacturing and the service sectors lead job growth. Taxable sales were up for the second year in a row, according to the report. Housing prices remained soft, however, especially in Southern California.