Southland

Now What? The Economic Development Corp. of Los Angeles County will join the cacophony of predictions involving Southern California’s fiscal future with the release Thursday of its 1996-97 forecast for the five-county area. The agency’s last semiannual forecast, in July, predicted 1.3% job growth in Los Angeles County, a figure that looks as if it may have understated this year’s actual growth. In considering the future, however, “so many things have happened: The Broadway [Stores Inc.] acquisition, the county budget problem and now the uncertain fate of First Interstate [Bancorp],” said the corporation’s chief economist and author of the forecast, Jack Kyser. “There’s a lot of things out there that are wild cards.” Forecasters including UCLA and First Interstate Bank have been putting forward upbeat predictions. Nevertheless, the state’s unemployment rate is up slightly, to 7.8% last month, mainly because there was a greater number of job applicants.