While the city of Stockton, Calif., is attempting to stave off bankruptcy, its local economy is perking up and leading all other metropolitan areas in the state in terms of job growth, Reuters reported yesterday. The Business Forecasting Center of the University of the Pacific in Stockton estimates a 5 percent increase in payrolls in the Stockton region for the 12 -month period ending in March. Local job growth will run at about 4 percent this year and about 2 percent annually through 2016, according to the estimates. Stockton entered into negotiations with its creditors in March in an attempt to avoid becoming the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy.
