Experts Look to 2020 for Economic Slowdown

Factors like low unemployment and an investor optimism for the future are helping to buoy the economy, speakers say.

SAN DIEGO—Despite the extended economic recovery and expansion, all indicators point to smooth sailing on the whole nationwide for the near future, and San Diego is no exception, said speakers at Thursday’s San Diego County Economic Roundtable here. The first part of the annual event, which was sponsored by the County of San Diego, the San Diego Workforce Partnership, the San Diego Union-Tribune and the University of San Diego School of Business, addressed the economic outlook, things to watch out for this year and the region’s workforce picture.

Phil Blair, chair of the workforce development board at the San Diego Workforce Partnership, said San Diego’s unemployment rate is at its lowest ever at 3.3%, and the market is in need of good workers. On the other hand, there are 43,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither working nor in school. The organization is trying to remedy this by opening up career centers in detention centers to help those who lost their way get a fresh start.