In line with predictions made in previous San Joaquin Valley Business Forecast Reports, total employment growth in the San Joaquin Valley continues to slow. Since the slowing of growth is at a more significant rate than in previous years, the Valley economy is displaying signs of plateauing. That’s the outlook of Gökçe Soydemir, the Foster Farms Endowed Professor of Business Economics at California State University, Stanislaus, in his biannual Business Forecast Report.

Soydemir’s report includes these findings and projections regarding the San Joaquin Valley:

The slowing of growth in the Valley’s total employment has become more visible in 2017.

The slowing pace of growth is being felt most in retail trade and leisure and hospitality services employment.

Valley employment growth is slowing at a faster rate than at the state and national level.

The slowdown in the state’s total employment growth is also happening at a faster rate than at the national level.

A higher-than-typical inflation rate and a depreciating dollar led to a decrease in the purchasing power of the Valley consumer in 2017.

For the first time since the recessionary years, Stanislaus County’s 1.94 percent growth rate made it the Valley’s fastest-growing county in total employment. Other counties in the Valley stalled or posted slight declines.

The biannual Business Forecast Report provides projections for the Valley’s labor market; regional housing conditions; prices and inflation; banks and other depositary institutions; and capital markets.

Soydemir joined Stanislaus State as the Foster Farms Endowed Professor of Business Economics in 2011.