That’s the good news.

The bad news centers on the job situation. Through October, San Diego County is down 50,000 jobs from a year ago.

“That’s going to be the worst year ever in terms of job loss in San Diego,” Gin said.

Amanda Ringham knows. She’s a single mother of three, a software developer who was laid off in late October. She’s had a few job interviews, but she’s had no luck collecting unemployment from the state, and she said that looking for a job has become almost a full-time job.

“I’ve been trying to do Web sites on the side, but it’s just not enough,“ she said. “I have to have a job.“

Professor Gin said he expects the job market to bottom out in the first half of next year, “Overall I think 2010 will be a positive year for jobs, but not that many new jobs will be created.”

Another negative for the local economy is a drop in local stock prices. A positive is the outlook for the national economy.