The report was issued by economists at California State University, Fullerton. It coincides with another report, released this morning by the US Census Bureau, that shows Orange County created more jobs in the late 1990s than any other US metropolitan area except Phoenix and the rest of Maricopa County, AZ.

The Cal State Fullerton study includes a relatively new type of regional economic indicator its researchers have devised that's designed to predict whether employment will rise or fall over the next three to six months. It's based on a variety of factors that influence business growth, from interest rates and building permits to the health of the stock market.

The Southland's indicator rose 0.87% from the previous quarter, but fell 0.21% for the US as a whole. "The slowdown does not appear to be as significant in Southern California as it is in the economy as a whole," says Adrian Fleissig, the economics professor who compiled the report.

Separately, the Census Bureau figures released this morning says the county added 56,900 jobs to its 1.3 million work force between March 1998 and March '99. That was a remarkable 4.5% job-growth rate, second only to Maricopa County's nearly 5% rate.

San Diego ranked fourth in the US job-creation rate and LA County had the fifth-best in the nation, the bureau says.