Inland Empire’s Hiring Boom

The Inland Empire, long the Rodney Dangerfield of the Southern California economy, will lead the state in job creation this year, according to an economic forecast to be released today.

Riverside and San Bernardino counties will see their 2002 nonfarm payroll employment increase a combined 4.1%, or 42,400 jobs, higher than any other major metropolitan area in California in terms of both growth and absolute jobs, according to Inland Empire economist John Husing, head of Highland-based Economics & Politics Inc.

Lest anyone think the Inland Empire is a flash in the pan, consider that the area has created the biggest share of jobs in Southern California over the last decade and outpaced the rest of the state during the recent economic slowdown. The area is 34,000 jobs ahead of where it was in March 2001, a 3.3% year-over-year growth rate that’s the highest of any large metro area in California.

“We’re continuing to grow even in a slowdown,” Husing said. “A lot of places wish they could say that.”

Husing said the region’s abundance of relatively low-cost land combined with a rapidly increasing population are fueling job creation in the vast region, which stretches east from Southern California’s coastal counties to the borders of Arizona and Nevada.

Local and national companies have been moving into the region for years to gain access to huge tracts of undeveloped land. Thus the area has been a magnet for warehousing and distribution operations in need of giant parcels, as well as manufacturers looking for room to stretch their legs. The region has provided firms with ready access to the huge Los Angeles market at greatly reduced costs when compared with the coastal counties.

But the Inland Empire’s population boom is fueling job creation as well. Currently home to about 3.3 million people, the Inland Empire is expected to add 1.8 million residents by 2020.

Husing said that growth has created a tremendous need for a variety of jobs to service the growing population, from store clerks and gardeners to teachers, police officers and administrators.

According to figures from the state Employment Development Department, San Bernardino and Riverside counties have created 342,300 jobs since 1990--the largest number in Southern California.

The knock on the Inland Empire’s economy is that many of the jobs it has created are relatively low-wage manufacturing, service and logistics positions. But even that is changing, albeit slowly, Husing said.

With housing prices skyrocketing in the coastal counties, high-end subdivisions are springing up in communities such as Corona, Chino Hills, Norco and Rancho Cucamonga.

Husing said those developments are attracting white-collar workers, managers and executives whose jobs currently remain in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.

“Over the long term, those people aren’t going to want to commute,” Husing said. “Their companies will eventually feel the pressure from their employees” to join them in the Inland Empire.

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Inland Outgrowth

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