Just when you thought the L.A. Economic Development Corp. had delivered all the bad news we needed to hear about the local economy, now the Chamber of Commerce is weighing in with yet another buzzkill. A study produced for the chamber by Beacon Economics is predicting that the county's unemployment will top out at 13 percent during the next 18 months. Specifically, we're going to lose about 300,000 more jobs before the economy even starts to get to its knees at the end of 2010.

According to today's L.A. Business Journal, the Beacon report also forecasts that the median price of an L.A. home “will bottom out at $234,000 in late 2010.” Meanwhile, the Daily Breeze reports that LAX has fallen from being the world's third busiest airport to No. 6 — behind Paris' Charles de Gaulle. The paper's sources cite the economy (naturally), but also the fact that several small air companies, such as Aer Lingus and Air India, pulled out last year. Is it something we said, or is it because LAX doesn't serve as a hub airport for any airlines?

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