The outlook continues to be gloomy for San Diego's economy in the first part of next year. The University of San Diego index of leading economic indicators dropped again last month. USD Economist Alan Gin says the index fell eight tenth's of a percent in September. He says the major area of concern is the decline in the number of local jobs.
Gin:
We've seen the unemployment rate in San Diego County spike to above six percent. We've seen job loss in 2000 and eight here for the first nine months. We haven't seen job loss on an annual basis in San Diego county since the early 1990's.
Gin says the region's troubles all stem from the struggling housing market. He says the local economy has shed 13,000 jobs directly linked to real estate. That includes construction, broker, and lending jobs.
