Economy of Los Angeles

Economy of Los Angeles is driven by international trade, entertainment (television, motion pictures, video games, recorded music), aerospace, technology, petroleum, fashion, apparel, and tourism. Los Angeles is also the largest manufacturing center in the western United States. The contiguous ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach together comprise the fifth-busiest port in the world and the most significant port in the Western Hemisphere and is vital to trade within the Pacific Rim. Other significant industries include media production, finance, telecommunications, law, healthcare, and transportation. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside combined statistical area (CSA) has a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of $831 billion (as of 2008), making it the third largest economic center in the world, after the Greater Tokyo Area and the New York-Newark-Bridgeport CSA. If counted as a country, the surrounding CSA has the 15th largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP.[69] Los Angeles has been classified an "Alpha(-) world city" according to a 2008 study by a research group at Loughborough University in England.
Until the mid-1990s, Los Angeles was home to many major financial institutions in the western United States. Mergers meant reporting to headquarters in other cities. For instance, First Interstate Bancorp merged with Wells Fargo in 1996, Great Western Bank merged with Washington Mutual in 1998, and Security Pacific Bank merged with Bank of America in 1992. Los Angeles was also home to the Pacific Exchange, until it closed in 2001.
The city is home to seven Fortune 500 companies. They are aerospace contractor Northrop Grumman, energy company Occidental Petroleum, healthcare provider Health Net, metals distributor Reliance Steel & Aluminum, engineering firm AECOM, real estate group CB Richard Ellis and builder Tutor Perini.
Other companies headquartered in Los Angeles include California Pizza Kitchen, Capital Group, Capstone Turbine, Cathay Bank, City National Bank, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, DeviantArt, Far East National Bank, Farmers Insurance Group, Fox Entertainment Group, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Guess?, Hanmi Bank, Herbalife, J2 Global Communications, The Jim Henson Company, KB Home, Korn/Ferry, Latham & Watkins, Mercury Insurance Group, Oaktree Capital Management, O’Melveny & Myers; Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, Premier America, Premiere Radio Networks, Rentech, Roll International, Sunkist, The TCW Group, Tokyopop, Triton Media Group, United Online, and VCA Antech.
The metropolitan area contains the headquarters of companies who moved outside of the city to escape its taxes but keep the benefits of proximity. For example, Los Angeles charges a gross receipts tax based on a percentage of business revenue, while many neighboring cities charge only small flat fees.
The University of Southern California (USC) is the city's largest private sector employer and contributes $4 billion annually to the local economy.
The United States Postal Service operates post offices in Los Angeles, the main one of which is located at 7001 South Central Avenue.
According to the city's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top ten employers in the city are the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, University of Southern California, Kaiser Permanente, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Farmers Insurance Group, TeamOne, Fox Entertainment Group, and American International Group.


Los Angeles County is commonly associated with the entertainment industry; all six major film studios—Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Sony, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, and Walt Disney Studios—are located within the county. Beyond motion picture and television program production, other major industries of Los Angeles County are international trade supported by the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, music recording and production, aerospace, and professional services such as law and medicine.
For major companies headquartered in the City of Los Angeles, and adjacent cities, see the Economy section of the Los Angeles, California article.
The following major companies have headquarters in Los Angeles County cities not adjacent to the city of Los Angeles:
Cerritos
CareMore
Isuzu Motors America
Memorex
RazorUSA
La Mirada
Makita
Monrovia
Trader Joe's
Palmdale
Delta Scientific
Santa Clarita
Princess Cruise Lines
Honda Racing
Thousand Oaks[9][10]
J.D. Power and Associates
Torrance
American Honda Motor Co.
Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.
Westlake Village
Dole Food Company



All about Los Angeles:

Los Angeles

• History of Los Angeles 3
• History of Los Angeles 2
• History of Los Angeles 1
• History of Los Angeles
• Geography of Los Angeles
• Climate of the Los Angeles
• Media in Los Angeles
• Religion in Los Angeles
• Sports in Los Angeles
• Demographics of Los Angeles
• Education in Los Angeles
• Transportation in Los Angeles
• Government of Los Angeles
• Crime in Los Angeles
• Culture of Los Angeles
• Los Angeles County, California
• Beverly Hills