A report released Thursday hints that San Diego County's economy will continue to get better through the rest of the year.
According to University of San Diego's Index of Leading Economic Indicators, the index value climbed four-tenths of a point in March. That continues a steady but short upward trend.
"It is the fifth time in six months that the index has been up, so that portends some good news for the local economy. I expect that we're going to have a positive economy for the rest of 2016," said economist Alan Gin, who put together the report.
That paints a bright economic picture for the second half of the year, but two of the index's measurements lost ground.
Building permits and consumer confidence were down last month, according to Gin's index.
Consumer confidence is down for the third month in a row because there's fear outside forces will affect the local economy.
"I think that some of this uncertainty that we're seeing, both nationally and internationally, is impacting people here in San Diego," Gin said.
On the positive side of the ledger, local stock prices, help wanted ads and the view of the national economy all gained ground.
The unemployment index was also up because the number of first-time jobless claims fell.
