Officials have long known that hundreds of miles of city water lines have deteriorated and need replacement, with many past the century mark. But in recent years, L.A.’s elected leaders have been unwilling to hike water rates enough to fix them more rapidly. As it stands, the city-owned Department of Water and Power is on track to replace main water lines only once every 300 years.
Lockyer called taxes directed at higher income earners “unfortunate” and taxes were too high in California, a comment that drew applause by several of the executives in attendance.
Traders said there was no single catalyst for the stumble, though selling started early and accelerated into Thursday’s closing bell, dragging the Dow into negative territory, down 0.1%, for 2014.
McDonald’s Corp. could be treated as a joint employer with its franchisees in labor complaints, according to a National Labor Relations Board legal determination that could have far-reaching implications for how restaurant companies deal with their workers.
The U.S. economy surged in the second quarter, more than offsetting a first-quarter contraction and putting growth back on an upward trajectory in 2014.
Professional services jobs — engineers, architects, lawyers, accountants and consultants — are growing in California at more than twice the rate of overall employment since the recession ended in 2009, according to an analysis of state economic data.
The report from the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research shows earnings growth in the manufacturing sector in Silicon Valley is up almost 30 percent.
A recent Brookings report found that of the regions with the greatest income disparity only one, Atlanta, is located in a red-leaning state. These include San Francisco, Miami, Boston, Washington, D.C., New York, Oakland, Chicago and Los Angeles. The lowest degree of inequality was found generally historically more conservative cities like Ft. Worth, Texas; Oklahoma City; Raleigh, N.C.; and Mesa, Ariz. Income inequality has risen most rapidly in the probably the most left-leaning big American city of luxury progressivism, San Francisco, where the wages of the poorest 20% of all households have actually declined amid the dot-com billions.
Walls’ massive database reveals San Diego region lost a net 3,440 jobs to out-of-state business moves from 1989 to 2011, or about .25 percent of current estimated employment in the area. California as a whole lost a net 231,000 positions, which amounts to about 1.5 percent of the latest statewide employment projections.
According to law firm Davis Polk, 208 (52%) of the 398 total rulemaking requirements have been met so far. It’s an improvement from 2012, when just 31% of the Dodd-Frank rules were in force, but still lacking.
California’s unemployment rate dipped to 7.4% in June, a month in which the state finally recovered all the jobs lost during the recession.
Omnitracs, a fleet management services company, said Friday that it will relocate early next year, generating 450 jobs and investing $10 million in Dallas. It plans to keep offices in San Diego and Baltimore.
In a vote that could highlight the difficulty in implementing additional measures to reduce carbon emissions ahead of global climate talks next year in Paris, Australia’s Senate on Thursday voted 39-32 to repeal a politically divisive carbon emissions price that contributed to the fall from power of three Australian leaders since it was first suggested in 2007.
While most indicators signal an economic upswing in California, the reality facing many residents of the Golden State is simple: On the ground, the recovery is still sluggish. Nowhere is that more apparent than in a newly developed database that includes detailed economic information on each of California’s 120 legislative districts and 58 counties.
Economic activity in the Twelfth District continued to improve moderately during the reporting period of mid-May through June. Overall price inflation remained quite modest, and wage pressures were well contained on net. Most contacts indicated that retail sales growth was unchanged from the previous Beige Book. Demand for business and consumer services ticked up. Manufacturing activity improved. Drought conditions contributed to reduced production of some fruits, vegetables, and livestock products. Activity in real estate markets advanced, although growth in the residential sector slowed somewhat. Loan demand increased overall.