Southern California bosses will hire 37% fewer workers in the next two years as part of a broad economic cooling, says a new forecast by economists at Cal State Fullerton.

The theme of the Woods Center for Economic Analysis and Forecasting’s outlook parallels a common belief at the moment: The economy is cooling but not to the point of stagnation or recession. The report’s authors, Anil Puri and Mira Farka, noted various challenges to the long-running expansion: economic, political and psychological. But they concluded …

“None of these factors appear to be overly threatening as of now. Having said that, there is no denying that the chances of a recession are uncomfortably high, the highest since the end of the Great Recession. As it ages, the expansion becomes more vulnerable to all sorts of shocks – much like the aging process in humans, while a younger physique may be able to sustain numerous body-blows without succumbing (as this expansion has), doing so at an older age becomes inevitably harder. Hence the endless handwringing and fretting over an impending recession.”

Still, the Woods Center forecast shows serious slowing. Here are 13 key points on how the local economy may perform during the next two years compared with how it has grown in the previous two years.

Let’s start with some basics …

1. Overall hiring: Add 171,383 in the next two years to 8,320,703 workers, down from hiring 272,129 between 2017 and 2019.

2. Jobless rate: Up to 4.6% in 2021 vs. 4.2% in 2019 and 4.7% in 2017.

Then look at local cash flow, income and spending …

3. Per-capita income: Grow 3.8% a year in 2019-21 to $63,397 — down from 4.2% annually in 2017-19.

4. Taxable sales: Grow 2.8% a year in 2019-21 to $346 billion — up from 2.1% annually in 2017-19.

Next, ponder spending-related employment …

5. Retailing: Add 11,494 jobs in two years to 813,274 workers, a reversal from a loss of 6,796 in 2017-19.

6. Trucking/warehouses: Add 14,438 jobs in two years to 395,901 workers, down from 24,480 hired in 2017-19.

7. Restaurants, tourism, etc.: Add 36,049 jobs in two years to 1,035,852 workers, down from 49,178 hired in 2017-19.

And real estate?

8. Housing permits: Average 43,239 in 2020-21 vs. 46,118 in 2017-19 — a 6% decrease.

9. Construction: Add 19,930 in two years to 408,476 workers, down from 35,296 hired in 2017-19.

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Other key employment niches …

10. Manufacturing: Lose 15,527 jobs in two years to 614,455 workers vs. a loss of 6,276 in 2017-19.

11. Education/health services: Add 13,958 jobs in two years to 1,163,838 workers, down from 46,414 hired in 2017-19.

12. Government: Add 14,230 jobs in two years to 1,107,296 workers, down from 30,374 hired in 2017-19.

And finally …

13. Population: Add 406,697 jobs in two years to 19,943,318 residents, down from 422,741 growth in ’17-’19.

Puri and Farka made numerous references in the outlook to the anxiety-filled 1990s TV sitcom “Seinfeld” to portray what they see as an overly pessimistic economic sentiment. They wrote …