Economy Is Hitting Cruise Speed

Robert A. Kleinhenz is an economist and senior research director at Beacon Economics.

LOS ANGELES—Job growth in Los Angeles is slowing, but there is no need to worry that a recession is around the corner. According to a Los Angeles outlook report from Beacon Economics, job growth in Los Angeles has been cut in half compared to the same time last year, but this is likely because the market has reached full employment and the market is hitting, what Beacon Economics’ Robert Kleinhenz calls, cruising speed or more stable consistent performance.

“This is not a precursor to a recession by any means. What I like to say is that the economy is hitting cruise speed,” Kleinhenz, economist and executive director of research at Beacon Economics, tells GlobeSt.com. “When you get on a freeway, you have to accelerate to get up to the cruise speed and then you settle in. When we are at full employment, we are getting up to the point where we are operating at cruise speed for the economy. There are no warning signs, and we are slowing down but that is because we are reaching capacity.”