A new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco . . . concludes that widely cited figures showing stagnation are mostly a statistical fluke. Workers continuously employed in full-time jobs received wage increases higher than inflation from 2002 to 2015. Last year, the gain was a 3.5 percent increase after inflation, up from 1.2 percent in 2010.
The Economic Dashboard is the result of a partnership between the Economic Vitality Corp. and the California Business Roundtable. Major sponsors are San Luis Obispo Partners in Education, a program of the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education, and Dignity Health of the Central Coast.
The share of young men who are jobless or incar- cerated has been rising. In 1980, 11 percent of young men were jobless or incarcerated; in 2014, 16 percent were (see the figure on page 3). Specifi- cally, 10 percent of young men were jobless in 1980, and 1 percent were incarcerated; those shares rose to 13 percent and 3 percent in 2014. . . Young men who are jobless or incarcerated can be expected to have lower lifetime earnings and less stable family lives, on average, than their counterparts who are employed or in school. In the short term, their lower earnings will reduce tax revenues and increase spending on income support programs, and the incarceration of those in federal prison imposes costs on the federal government. Farther in the future, they will probably earn less than they would have if they had gained more work experi- ence or education when young, resulting in a smaller economy and lower tax revenues.
The Online Platform Economy adds an important new element to existing labor markets, however. Simply put, landing a platform job is easier and quicker. Individuals can, and do, generate additional income on labor platforms in a timely fashion when they experience a dip in regular earnings. This is a potentially far better option to mitigate or weather volatility, if the alternatives are to constrain spending or take on additional credit. Moreover, this option meets a target need. Participation in labor platforms is highest precisely among those who experience the highest levels of income volatility—the young, the poor, and individuals living in the West.
The remainder of 2015’s population growth, about 100,000, is net migration –the difference between people moving in and moving out. While the state continues to see an inflow of immigrants from other countries, legal and illegal, it loses more people to other states than it gains.
More people who were among the top 20% of income earners made money from digital platforms such as Uber and Airbnb than lower-income workers, according to new data from the JPMorgan Chase Institute.
California’s statewide housing growth, as measured by net unit growth in completed housing units for 2015, was largely flat from the previous year. Although net units were down 3 percent (67,110 net housing units compared to 69,435 net units in 2014), wildfires accounted for most of the decline. The losses to fire were most significant in unincorporated portions of Lake County (1,531) and Calaveras County (549).
In the JPMorgan Chase Institute’s report Paychecks, Paydays, and the Online Platform Economy, we documented that 4 percent of adults earned income from the Online Platform Economy between October 2012 and September 2015. Despite the tremendous growth in participation in the Online Platform Economy—a 47-fold increase over three years—these online “gigs” remained a secondary source of income for most people. In months when individuals earned platform income, labor platforms, such as Uber or TaskRabbit where individuals perform discrete tasks or assignments, contributed 33 percent of total monthly income, and capital platforms, such as eBay or Airbnb where individuals sell goods or rent assets, contributed 20 percent of total monthly income.
However, a new analysis of employment data by the Legislature’s budget adviser suggests that when the underemployed and labor force dropouts are added to the official number, job distress affects nearly three times as many Californians.
A more accurate ratio, after adjusting for differences in gender employment patterns, is closer to 92%. Even the remaining gap of eight percentage points may not stem fully from discrimination.
For the better part of a century, Southern California has been seen as the land of surfers, hipsters and youthful innovators. Yet the land of sun and sea is becoming, like its East Coast counterpart Florida, increasingly geriatric.
In recent years, people moving to Texas from other states — rather than from other countries — have played a key role in the state’s population growth, according to a new analysis by the Office of the State Demographer. From 2005 to 2013, an estimated 5.9 million people moved to Texas, and 4.8 million of those came from one of the other 49 states.
The standard portrayals of economic life for ordinary American families paint a picture of stagnancy, even decline, amidst rising economic inequality. But rarely does the public conversation about our changing economy, from the pages of the New York Times to the halls of the Brookings Institution, focus on questions of family structure. This is a major oversight: Though few realize it, the retreat from marriage plays a central role in the changing economic landscape of American families, in race relations in America, and in the deteriorating fortunes of poor boys. In a word, the increasingly “separate and unequal” character of family life in the United States is fueling economic, racial, and gender inequality.
A new report by the McKinsey Global Institute finds that the U.S. could add $2.1 trillion to the nation’s gross domestic product in less than two decades if states made varying strides to raise women’s rate of labor force participation, increase the number of hours they work and spread them into more-productive job sectors.
Latinos’ steady rise as a portion of Los Angeles County’s population has been accompanied by a surge in their economic clout, a trend highlighted in a new study that quantifies increases in the group’s educational attainment, income and consumer spending.