LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UCLA Anderson Forecast’s second quarterly report in 2015 for the United States indicates that the nation’s economic growth, for the second year in a row, was slowed due to inclement weather experienced during the first quarter of the year. The U.S. is expected to return to a 3% GDP growth rate by the third quarter and that pace should hold through the end of 2016. According to the report, “At that rate of growth, the economy will likely be generating jobs at a 250,000 per month clip and the unemployment rate will close out 2015 at just below 5%.” The current California forecast calls for continued steady gains in employment through the middle of 2016. The state’s economy will be buoyed by the increase in U.S. growth rates in construction, automobiles and business investment as well as higher consumer demand.
For the June publication, the UCLA Anderson Forecast includes two additional reports. One updates the Human Capital Index work that the research center has been examining for the past few years and the other looks at the tech sector in Los Angeles. This latter report ties into the theme of the June UCLA Anderson Forecast Conference to be held June 3, 2015, that features a keynote address from Scott A. McGregor, Broadcom president and chief executive officer.
The National Forecast
In his forecast for the national economy, UCLA Anderson Forecast Senior Economist David Shulman says that despite the first quarter bump in the road, the United States’ economy remains on track with a 3% growth path for GDP. He expects consumer spending to rise due to declining oil prices and anticipates that the drop in oil-related capital spending will first abate and then reverse, while housing starts and equipment spending will rise. Taken in total, such conditions create the underpinnings for moderate economic growth. “In this environment, the unemployment rate will drop below 5%, inflation will move above 2% and the Fed will embark on a gradual tightening process starting this September,” says Shulman.
“We have yet to see the approximately $150 billion annualized reduction in gasoline prices to flow through to consumer spending,” Shulman notes. Instead of spending these savings, Shulman says that consumers have been paying down debts and increasing their savings. Such behavior belies “the historical economic playbook,” but expects that “the ‘tax-cut effect’ of lower gas prices will gradually find its way into higher consumer spending.” Housing and equipment investing will help to power economic growth, as will an increase in military spending.
The question remains regarding changes to the Federal Reserve’s zero interest rate policy that has been in effect since December 2008. According to Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, “We are going to be changing monetary policy from the most extremely expansionary we’ve been able to do in all of history to an extremely expansionary monetary policy.”
A modest increase in the federal funds rate will likely occur in September, which would likely have little impact on the stock market. Shulman writes, “For those who fear the impact of higher short-term interest rates on the stock market, we would remind them that history suggests that it takes several rate hikes to cause a significant correction in stock prices. Moreover, although the Fed takes into account the effect of asset prices on the economy, it would be a mistake to believe that Fed Chair Janet Yellen is the stock market’s ‘fairy godmother’.”
The California Forecast
The June California forecast, authored by Senior Economist Jerry Nickelsburg, says that the increase in U.S. growth rates from construction, automobiles, and business investment, as well as higher consumer demand, will translate into a steady decrease in the unemployment rate in California during the next eighteen months. “We expect California’s unemployment rate to be insignificantly different from the U.S. rate at 4.9% during the forecast period,” says Nickelsburg, “and employment growth to then be constrained by the growth in the U.S., immigration, and natural growth in the working age population.”
The Forecast estimates total employment growth at 2.5% in 2015, 2.1% in 2016 and 1.3% in 2017. Real personal income growth is estimated to be 4.5% in 2015 and forecast to be 4.4% and 3.5% in 2016 and 2017, respectively. At the same time, the unemployment rate should hover around 6.2% through the balance of 2015. Unemployment will fall throughout the next year and will average 5.2% -- a slight downward revision from the March forecast. In 2017 the Forecast expects the unemployment rate to be approximately 5.0%, same as in the U.S.
The June California forecast report considers how and when the state will reach its “employment potential.” Nickelsburg says that “the current economic expansion has had an unusually large spike in the number of long-term unemployed” and that this spike corresponds more or less to the decline in manufacturing, the reduction of the housing sector impacted by a housing bubble, and shifts in the finance, legal and professional services sectors. The report examines the implication of demographics and the long-term unemployed and draws implications for potential employment growth in California going forward.
Silicon Beach and the Los Angeles Economy
In addition to the forecast reports, Economist William Yu looked at the high tech industry’s impact on the Los Angeles economy. Yu says, “The high tech sector is growing in counties across the U.S., though Los Angeles is not among the top leaders in terms of patents, capital, or salary. However, there is a large information sector in Los Angeles, currently concentrated in vibrant small-sized firms. Silicon Beach is on the rise, and hopefully, it will continue to rise.”
Yu goes on to say that as Northern California’s tech sector grew beyond Silicon Valley into San Mateo and San Francisco, Los Angeles would benefit from the activity currently centered in Silicon Beach. Jobs in the information sector require high knowledge, high skill, and a highly educated workforce and, as a result, pay better than most jobs, making growth in such jobs vital for Los Angeles due to its high cost of living.
With high tech products and services in continued demand worldwide, this sector should continue to grow in the 21st century, creating wealth for local economies, which could also set Los Angeles on a course for long-term prosperity.
Tech and the California Economy: Is the Future in the Code
All of the economists’ reports will be presented at UCLA Anderson Forecast’s quarterly conference on Wednesday, June 3, 2015. The conference features a number of panels focused on the high tech industry and includes a keynote address from Scott A. McGregor, Broadcom president and chief executive officer. For more information on attending the conference, please click here.
About UCLA Anderson Forecast
UCLA Anderson Forecast is one of the most widely watched and often-cited economic outlooks for California and the nation and was unique in predicting both the seriousness of the early-1990s downturn in California and the strength of the state’s rebound since 1993. More recently, the Forecast was credited as the first major U.S. economic forecasting group to declare the recession of 2001. Visit UCLA Anderson Forecast at http://uclaforecast.com.
About UCLA Anderson School of Management
UCLA Anderson School of Management is among the leading business schools in the world, with faculty members globally renowned for their teaching excellence and research in advancing management thinking. Located in Los Angeles, gateway to the growing economies of Latin America and Asia and a city that personifies innovation in a diverse range of endeavors, UCLA Anderson's MBA, Fully-Employed MBA, Executive MBA, Global Executive MBA for Asia Pacific, Global Executive MBA for the Americas, Master of Financial Engineering, doctoral and executive education programs embody the school's Think In The Next ethos. Annually, some 1,800 students are trained to be global leaders seeking the business models and community solutions of tomorrow. Follow UCLA Anderson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/UCLAAnderson or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/uclaanderson.