Local elected officials recently joined professors from UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs and leaders of the Los Angeles Urban League and California Business Roundtable for a discussion about the unbalanced economic recovery being experienced by low-income communities throughout Los Angeles. 
The forum, held on July 19 at the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, was the second in a series of three aimed at tackling the central question of how to encourage economic development in minority communities. Participants in a panel discussion, moderated by Luskin School Dean Frank Gilliam, included Mark Ridley-Thomas, chairman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors; Jerome Horton, chairman of the California State Board of Equalization; Xavier A. Gutierrez, president and chief investment officer of the Meruelo Group; Nolan Rollins, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Urban League; Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable; and Gary Toebben, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.
A packed audience listens to a presentation of regional economic data provided by Luskin School researchers.
"The data from UCLA underscores the need for urban economic development," said Rollins, head of the Los Angeles Urban League. "Communities throughout Los Angeles are not growing at the same rate and, as a result, residents in low-income, urban neighborhoods do not have the same opportunities for upward mobility as residents in more wealthy, suburban communities." 
UCLA's Luskin School researchers presented data that revealed that Los Angeles dropped from 10th nationally to 46th in terms of per capita personal income since 1969. In comparison, the City of San Francisco held its ranking at third over the same time. Overall, L.A. County is experiencing lower growth than the rest of the state. The researchers also noted that the City of Los Angeles has been struggling since the 1990s. Over the last 20 years, it has lost nearly 100,000 jobs.
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In 1990-2010, the new jobs added to the metropolitan Los Angeles region were in industries that paid an average wage of $52,840, but jobs lost over the same time period were in industries that paid an average wage of $76,003.
"It’s clear that the jobs that are coming into the state are paying less than those we are losing," said Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable. "The types of jobs that are leaving are middle-income jobs in the manufacturing and production sectors of our economy. The loss of those jobs and the business activity associated with them is creating an even bigger divide between high-income and low-income communities."
The UCLA data showed that most job movement in the Los Angeles region is uneven and that there is much higher employment in the suburbs and surrounding counties than in high poverty inner-city neighborhoods. The research also indicated higher rates of poverty. 
"The economic recovery in Los Angeles is a tale of three cities," said Bill Parent, associate dean at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. "There are parts of Los Angeles — on the western and eastern borders — that are recovering nicely, along the lines of San Francisco and the Silicon Valley. There are also parts of Los Angeles that have both declining wages and jobs and are headed in the direction of Detroit and Milwaukee. Then, there are parts of Los Angeles showing a persistent third trend: steady employment growth, but only in low-wage jobs."
Luskin Associate Dean Bill Parent addresses the audience at the forum, which was cohosted by UCLA and the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.
UCLA researchers concluded that a strong metropolitan economy is the best antidote for community poverty. Strategies to boost per capita income and employment must increase demand for labor, increase the supply of labor with the right skills and focus on traded goods and services.
The data found that local economic development policies only affect the economy at the margins. The most important factors for lowering central-city poverty are increasing metropolitan per capita personal income and employment.
The third session, which is scheduled to be held in Sacramento this month, will focus on the impact of regulations and taxes on urban economic development.
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To view the full report, click here. This story appeared originally on the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs website.
