Southland

Another Crystal Ball: The Economic Development Corp. of Los Angeles County will join the chorus of forecasters when it releases its prognostications for the future of the local economy on Thursday. The news has been less than upbeat lately, despite signs that the state’s long-awaited recovery has begun. Last month, the widely watched UCLA Business Forecasting Project downgraded its forecast for California, predicting only 1.8% job growth in 1995 and 1.7% growth in ’96. Last week, though, California’s unemployment figure for June showed nearly a full percentage point decline to 7.6%. The EDC’s forecast will look specifically at the five-county Southern California economy, with special emphasis on trade, movies, tourism and apparel manufacturing.