Note: Happy holidays! The newsletter will take a holiday break soon. I’ll have an economic update for you this Tuesday, December 21 (good news from the establishment survey that just came out today!), and then I’ll be back to regular, twice-a-week content on Tuesday, January 4.
Thank you to all the new subscribers! I really appreciate your support. This being the end of the year, I wanted to provide you with a recap of what I do here and what to expect in 2022.
What we’re about:
Economic updates every Tuesday
Jobs, unemployment, consumer spending, inflation
Special topics every Friday
Real estate, migration and commuting, unionization, interviews with local businesses, Higher Ed in the IE
Coming up in 2022
More local business interviews
Policy analysis
Perhaps an historical post (or 2)?
Biggest hits of 2021:
1. Why wages grew during the pandemic
2. Region leading, rather than trailing, the recovery
3. Housing costs drive people out of state
4. Region ranks high among “long commute” metro areas
6. Redlands jeweler shares her experience in difficult times
7. I have also been on the radio at KVCR twice: see here and here
Holiday #IEfacts
For those of you off to holiday parties – keep that whiskey-eggnog in balance, and don’t forget to impress partygoers with these holiday #IEfacts:
The IE’s median house price is $529,000, up over $100,000 since the start of the pandemic
The IE has not yet fully recovered all the jobs it lost at the start of the pandemic – we’re still about 5% shy
Since 2010, “warehouses and storage” employment in the IE has increased from 20,000 to over 100,000 workers. Relatedly, logistics now employs 1 out of every 4 workers in the region
Wages have grown over 10% since the start of the pandemic, but consumer spending is up 20%
The IE has one of the highest regional year-over-year inflation rates in the nation
Happy holidays to you and your loved ones and family