Central Coast Economic Forecast: Housing is crucial to SLO County’s economic growth

By Stephen Ellison Special to the Business Times Economic growth in San Luis Obispo County has slowed compared with growth in neighboring counties, as well as statewide, and lack of housing is a key reason, according to economists at the Central Coast Economic Forecast event Nov. 6 in San Luis Obispo. While there have been positives in recent years – rising household incomes, gains in tourism and continued operations at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant – SLO County’s gross domestic product (GDP) has lagged since around the mid-2010s, according to data presented at the event. Before that divergence, the county’s GDP was on the same gradual trajectory as California’s. Some of the bad news includes a shrinking labor force, stalled population growth and declining small businesses, according to Niree Kodaverdian, a research manager with Beacon Economics. Kodaverdian and her colleagues agreed there is potential for greater economic growth in the years to come if more housing is built.

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