Federal Reserve Saw Dip In Economy For Orange County In Third Quarter

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA — Orange County and Southern California's metropolitan areas grew late last year at their slowest pace since 2010, it was reported Tuesday, based on a series of government indexes. The sluggish business pace was blamed on pre-election jitters, with some evidence of a modest rebound since Election Day.

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, according to the Orange County Register. The Economic Conditions Indexes date to 1990.

Southern California'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, according to the Register.

Here's what quarterly averages of the condition indexes tell us about the slowdown in Southern California business activity in the third quarter, according to the newspaper. The average annualized gain in these indexes back to 1990 is 2.6 percent:

- Los Angeles-Orange County: Southern California's slowest metro area, with 2.2 percent average annual growth vs. 4.5 percent a year earlier and 3.5 percent average since 2010. This was the slowest three months of L.A.-O.C. growth since 2010's first quarter.

- Riverside-San Bernardino: Grew at a 2.5 percent average yearly pace vs. 4.8 percent a year earlier and 4.1 percent average since 2010. Slowest growth since 2010's fourth quarter.

- San Diego: 2.7 percent growth vs. 4.3 percent a year earlier and 3.8 percent average since 2010. Slowest growth since 2010’s fourth quarter.

- Ventura County: 2.9 percent average growth vs. 4 percent a year earlier and 4.2 percent average since 2010. Slowest growth since 2010's third quarter.

City News Service contributed to this report

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