The U.S. economy continued to expand across most of the country at the start of the year amid broad-based hiring and rising consumer spending, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest survey of regional economic conditions.
The UC system will not expand enrollment of California freshmen and transfer students in the fall unless more state revenues are appropriated and will cap enrollment of out-of-state students at UCLA and UC Berkeley, UC President Janet Napolitano said Tuesday..
The statewide snowpack was at just 19% of average for the date — the second-lowest statewide snowpack recorded in early March since 1991’s reading of 18%. In January the statewide snowpack was at 25%.
Personal income increased $50.8 billion, or 0.3 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) increased $52.6 billion, or 0.4 percent, in January, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) decreased $18.9 billion, or 0.2 percent. In December, personal income increased $45.3 billion, or 0.3 percent, DPI increased $37.3 billion, or 0.3 percent, and PCE decreased $35.7 billion, or 0.3 percent, based on revised estimates.
Assemblyman Mike Gatto has proposed legislation that would start a process for a new University of California campus to specialize in technology fields. The campus is envisioned as the UC equivalent of the private California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Analysts said the current surge is being driven by a stew of factors, all of them coming on the heels of unusually low gas prices seen in the last quarter of 2014 and in January this year. Prices are being pushed upward by soaring wholesale gasoline costs, which in turn prompt higher retail costs at service stations; in-state refineries switching over to pricier spring/summer gas blends; and the United Steelworkers union strike idling workers at Tesoro’s California facilities in Carson and Martinez.
Gas prices are rocketing up in the Sacramento region, hitting well above the $3 mark. The average price of a gallon of regular gas is $3.226, compared to $2.784 a week ago, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report.
Personal income rose less than expected while personal spending fell more than expected in January.
The U.S. economy cooled in the final months of 2014, a return to the moderate growth that has marked much of the recovery.
Driven by a tumble in oil prices since mid-2014, the consumer-price index fell 0.1% in January from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the first year-over-year decrease since October 2009. Prices fell 0.7% from December.
Real gross domestic product — the value of the production of goods and services in the United States, adjusted for price changes — increased at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to the “second” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 5.0 percent.
Although couched in dense education jargon, the letter essentially accuses WestEd of ignoring the uniform achievement standards it says state law requires in favor of squishier measures, and offers an alternative version.
More than 70 percent think state and local officials should dedicate additional resources to existing roadways. By a smaller margin, 48 percent to 35 percent, they believe more money must be set aside for new road construction.
The average pump price in Los Angeles has risen 75 cents over the past month, according to GasBuddy.com, although Scotto said his prices have jumped $1.24 since Jan. 20. The average price of gas in Los Angeles County jumped 9.9 cents overnight, according to GasBuddy.com
“It’s the biggest. The reason it’s so large is that fuels have come under the cap,” said David Clegern, a spokesman for the ARB. Transportation fuels account for about 40 percent of greenhouse gases.