The economies of Southern California’s metropolitan areas grew late last year at their slowest pace since 2010, a series of government indexes show.
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis monitors the economic health of 50 major U.S. metropolitan areas with indexes that track 12 business yardsticks. The Economic Conditions Indexes date to 1990.
The region’s four metro areas all saw significant dips in year-over-year growth in these indexes compared with both the previous-year expansion pace and performance since the Great Recession ended. Last year’s sluggish business pace has been blamed on pre-election jitters with some evidence showing a modest rebound since Election Day.
Here’s what quarterly averages of the condition indexes tell us about the slowdown in Southern California business activity in the third quarter. For perspective, the average annualized gain in these indexes back to 1990 is 2.6 percent:
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