How Will the Inland Empire Fare in the Next Downturn?

The Inland Empire was struck badly in the last recession, but recent population and job growth could mean better stability in future downturns. That is because the Inland Empire isn’t only seeing job growth but job diversity as well. That diversity could mean the market will better weather the next economic storm.

“A lot of the growth that we have seen in employment in the region has been broad based,” Taner Osman, a research manager at UCR Center for Forecasting, tells GlobeSt.com. “The Inland Empire isn’t beholden to one particular industry that would lead you to believe that if that particular industry was to experience a pronounced recession, the Inland Empire would be hurt more than another region.”

Job diversity is generally a characteristic of market stability. “Generally, a diverse economic base is something that should make regions better able to resist a recession, but I am cautious to say that if there was a national or statewide recession, the Inland Empire would perform better than other regions,” says Osman. Typically, we would expect a slowdown in business activity to be broad based.”