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CSUSB professor discusses rising Inland Empire inflation rate
KVCR
Jan. 10, 2022
Daniel MacDonald, CSUSB economics professor, discussed with KVCR's Jonathan Linden the current state of the Inland Empire economy. (MacDonald authors the weekly Inland Empire Economic Update newsletter.)
Though MacDonald said he was “a little concerned” about the region’s 7.9 percent inflation rate, “It's not necessarily something that I think is going to turn into the kinds of hyperinflation that we saw in the United States in the mid-1970s to early 1980s. You know, back then, we had inflation rates of over 10%. But the way that I view things and the way that a lot of economists view things is that this is all part of just the growing pains of moving out of the pandemic and slowly trying to recover from it.”
Listen to the interview at “Inland Empire inflation rate continues to rise.”
Despite many problems, Inland Empire economy stays in growth mode, CSUSB report says
Fontana Herald News
Jan. 10, 2022
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which is an important indicator of the strength of the economy, has remained above the baseline 50 percent mark for 16 consecutive months, according to the Inland Empire Report on Business by the Institute of Applied Research at Cal State San Bernardino.
The December PMI registered 55.5 percent, which showed that the I.E.’s manufacturing sector and overall economy have continued the trend of steady growth for more than a year, said Barbara Sirotnik and Lori Aldana, who compiled the survey of area businesses.
“Yes, 2021 saw skyrocketing inflation, difficulties finding skilled labor, emergence of the Delta and Omicron variants, and supply chain disruptions. If these issues begin to ease in 2022, the Inland Empire economy will continue its recovery,” said Sirotnik and Aldana.
The Commodity Price Index took another significant jump from the previous month’s 79.3 up to 87.9, indicating that the Inland Empire is still dealing with inflationary pressures, the report said.
“The pressure of supply disruptions, price increases, and labor strains are still being felt by Inland Empire panelists, although optimism about the future state of the economy has crept up a bit since last month,” said Sirotnik and Aldana.” Only 20 percent forecasted a strengthening local economy for the next three months, however we note that this is a significant increase from last month’s 4 percent.”
Read the complete article at “Despite many problems, Inland Empire economy stays in growth mode, report says.”
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