Economy report holds promise

Economists at Cal State Long Beach released their monthly review of economic activities for the Greater Los Angeles area on Monday and predicted more jobs in the region for the next six to nine months.

Noting a third consecutive gain in the regional index of economic indicators, they said this implies that economic activity in the region will increase significantly during the period.

Peter Griffin, associate professor of economics and a co-author of the report said this should translate to more employment for graduating seniors.

Figures released indicated that the index, a measure of economic activities, with a January value of 96 percent rose 0.1 percent in February, after posting 0.3 and 0.1 percent gains for the preceding months of January and December. The February num bers indicated an increase of 0 .4 percent from the that of the previous year.

The index reflects statistics of six components of economic activities in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernadino counties.

These are the average weekly initial claims for unemployment and insurance, the number of business failures in the Los Angeles area, the number of building permits issued, the index of regional stock prices, index of Los Angeles Times help wanted advert and the U.S. Index of Leading Economic Indicators.

The report issued by the CSULB Office of Economic Research indicated that three of the six components - the stock prices, building permits and the help wanted advertisement- made positive gains.

Both regional unemployment claims and the U.S index were negative while the rate of business failures stayed the same

. Griffin explained that three consecutive increases in the index constituted evidence of future expansion while a similar number of declines indicate a future slowing of economic activity.