According to the 2nd quarter California Forecast just released by the Business Forecasting Center, the California economy is expected to finish strong in 2006, registering 1.7% job growth. The economy, however, will slow a little with 1.3% growth through 2008. A similar pattern of strong 2006 and then some slowing in the years after will take place in the Central Valley and the Bay Area economies. The Central Valley economies will outpace the state, experiencing annual job growth ranging from 1.8% in the Modesto MSA and to 2.1% in the Sacramento MSA from 2006 to 2008. On the other hand, during the same period Bay Area MSAs including San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland will see slower job growth of 0.6%, 0.8%, and 1.5%, respectively. Finally, leading the other 10 MSAs covered in the forecast is the Vallejo-Fairfield MSA. Fueled by strong showing in the Construction and Services sectors, the region will grow 2.3% per year during the same period.
