L.A. market rocks: all categories of commercial real estate in the Los Angeles market are thriving. Industrial properties lead the way with a 2.9 percent vacancy rate as of first-quarter 2005.

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L.A. market rocks: all categories of commercial real estate in the Los Angeles market are thriving. Industrial properties lead the way with a 2.9 percent vacancy rate as of first-quarter 2005.

THE LOS ANGELES ECONOMY IS ONE OF STRONGEST IN THE COUNTRY TODAY. After losing roughly half a million jobs in the early 1990s--nearly 40 percent due to defense cutbacks--and suffering a devastating race riot and earthquake, the area made a strong comeback beginning in the late 1990s and then later in the post-9/11 period. [??] In spite of the recovery, however, Los Angeles has lost a lot of Fortune 500 firms in the last decade, says Jack Kyser, chief economist with the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation. He includes among the casualties local banks such as First Interstate Bancorp, which was acquired by Wells Fargo Bank, and The Times Mirror Co., Los Angeles, which was purchased by the Tribune Co., Chicago. [??] Today the Los Angeles County economy is dominated by global trade, tourism and, perhaps even more than in years past, the entertainment industry. But there have been many other changes to this economy in recent years. Although there has been an economic recovery, many employers are small businesses facing in...

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