The Los Angeles economy is expected to grow at a solid pace in 2005, far better than the national average.

Economists point to several factors for the promising projections, including an uptick in tourism and movie production driven by the weak dollar, increased demand for office space, more hiring of white-collar workers and continued expansion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Still, job growth has been spotty, as has the return of aggressive capital spending that remains missing from the recovery. In the past three months, hiring in the professional and business services, construction and tourism sectors has been robust, though government jobs continue to decline.

Los Angeles County’s unemployment rate hit 6.1 percent in November, but UCLA’s Anderson Forecast projects that California is on track to add 225,000 jobs in 2005, a growth rate of 1.6 percent.

“It’s not spectacular growth, but it’s not bad either,” said Christopher Thornberg, senior economist at the Anderson Forecast.

The state’s job growth does not include the massive underground economy of nearly 1.5 million people who do not show up on the state’s payroll statistics, but contribute to the growing cash economy.

In addition, corporate profits reaped through cheap imports and outsourcing abroad are not being plowed back into the economy. Nationwide, companies are sitting on record profits of $869.7 billion, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those profits will not be used to modernize equipment or upgrade technology. Rather, companies are poised for another period of consolidation through mergers and acquisitions, which should contribute to a rise in white collar jobs.

“Companies are going to sit on their profits and maybe give a bit out to shareholders,” said Michael Bazdarich, senior economist at UCLA’s Anderson Forecast.

Scott Anderson, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Bank, expects job growth in Southern California of 1.8 percent in 2005 and 1.9 percent in 2006. He expects the high cost of health care and tax policies to keep a lid on hiring.

“Pessimists will point out that while we’re seeing decent job growth, it’s not what California has been used to over the past decade, so in that sense, it will continue to be disappointing,” he said.