The University of San Diego Burnham-Moores Institute for Real Estate's Index of Leading Economic Indicators for San Diego County rose 0.4 percent in April — compared to the previous month — reaching its highest level in nearly a decade, Professor Alan Gin said Tuesday.
April's gain was led by a sharp increase in local stock prices and the outlook for the national economy. The number of residential building permits issued by local governments slid and consumer confidence dropped, but not enough to offset gains in other sectors of the index, Gin said.
"The outlook for the local economy continues to be for strength at least through the end of 2016," Gin said. "Through April, the performance of the local economy as measured by job growth was solid, with non-farm wage and salary employment up 36,900 compared to the same time in 2015."
He said that would be the second-best one-year period for job growth since the recession.
Local stock prices showed strong gains for the second month in a row, but remain down for 2016 as a whole, according to Gin. He said the national Index of Leading Economic Indicators enjoyed its biggest single-month gain since July 2014.
On housing permits, the professor said the number issued dropped for the second month in a row, and consumer confidence has declined for six straight months, and 10 of the last 12 months.
In April, the San Diego index stood at 140.8, the highest since a mark of 140.9 was recorded in September 2006, according to Gin.
