L.A. County consumer spending coming back - but slowly

The pickup is slower than in other parts of Southern California, according to Beacon Economics. In the final three months of 2010, taxable sales were up nearly 8.9 percent above their low point in the second quarter of 2009, while In San Diego County, taxable sales were 11.4 percent above their low. This would make sense, since the jobless rate in L.A. is roughly two percentage points higher than in San Diego.