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The USD Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate’s Index of Leading Economic Indicators for San Diego County rose 0.7 percent in May. Leading the way was the growth in help wanted advertising, which was up for the fifth month in a row.
Significant gains in help wanted advertising spanning February to May tracked to the local unemployment rate falling to 9.6 percent in May – down from 9.8 percent in April.
This represented the second month in a row the local unemployment was below 10 percent after 22 consecutive months above that level. At the same time, an unemployment rate of 9.6 percent is still a very high level.
This year the rise in the Index has been supported by the growth in building permits for residential units. In May the level rose for the fifth consecutive month, although the gain was not nearly as large as what had been seen during the first four months of 2011.
The outlook continues to be positive for the local economy, and growth is expected at least through the end of 2011, according to the Index’s economist Dr. Alan Gin.
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The USD Index has been signaling a rebound for the last two years, yet the local economy remains in difficult straits.
The explanation: the recession in the local economy probably ended in late 2009, meaning the local economy stopped falling at that point. The economy has grown since then, but the growth has been very slow.
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