The first statewide survey of the season Friday will find little snow in the Sierra, sending an ominous warning that California may be headed into a third straight dry year and intensifying pressure to break the political stalemate over rebuilding the state’s antiquated water storage and delivery network.
The latest data are, for the most part, positive. A few years ago, the state’s unemployment rate was well over 12 percent, one of the highest in the nation, and it had lost well over a million jobs. But through November, the state Department of Employment Development reported, California had regained over 900,000 jobs, and its jobless rate had dropped to 8.5 percent. The darker side of the data, however, is that California still has more than 1.5 million unemployed workers and the gains have been pretty much confined to a few coastal enclaves, particularly those in the immediate Bay Area.
SBE Council has published the state Index for 18 years, which ranks the 50 states according to 47 different policy measures, including a wide array of tax, regulatory and government spending measurements. – See more at: http://www.sbecouncil.org/2013/12/12/sbe-council-ranks-the-50-states-in-small-business-policy-index-2013/#sthash.aygbaj8z.dpuf
Local unemployment is down. The Sacramento economy is slowly growing. But Sacramento’s poorest residents are reaping few of the rewards.
Congress went home for the holidays without approving a federally funded extension of jobless benefits for about 1.3 million Americans who have been out of work six months or longer.
Real GDP rose 3.6 percent after rising 2.5 percent in the second quarter. Business investment and state and local government spending picked up, and imports slowed. Consumer spending slowed.
State personal income growth slowed slightly to 1.1 percent in the third quarter of 2013, from 1.2 percent in the second quarter, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Growth slowed in 25 states, accelerated in 22, and was unchanged in 3 states and the District of Columbia. Growth across states ranged from 0.4 percent in New Mexico to 1.9 percent in Mississippi. The national price index for personal consumption expenditures increased 0.5 percent in the third quarter after remaining unchanged in the second quarter.
This report provides an overview of the demographic, social, and economic characteristics of California’s population. Topics include income, poverty, education, health insurance coverage, language, place of birth, migration, and more. The tabulations in this report are based on special data runs from the American Community Survey (ACS) Public Use Microdata Sample 1-year file. This ACS report will be produced annually to facilitate the examination of changes in the state over time.
California grew by 332,000 people between July 1, 2012 and July 1, 2013 to total more than 38.2 million, according to official population estimates released today by the Department of Finance. The growth rate of 0.9 percent and the 332,000 numeric gain are the highest for California since the pre-recession year of 2003-04.
Real gross domestic product–the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States–increased at an annual rate of 4.1 percent in the third quarter of 2013 (that is, from the second quarter to the third quarter), according to the “third” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 2.5 percent.
California’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 8.5 percent in November, down 0.2 percentage point in October, and down 1.4 percentage points from 1 year ago. In comparison, the U.S. unemployment rate was 7.0 percent in November, down 0.3 percentage point from October, and down 0.8 percentage point from 1 year ago.
In California there were 14,748,200 jobs in total non-farm industries in November, a gain of 44,300 jobs from last month. This followed a revised 30,100-job gain in October and a 2,900-job loss in September.
Within non-farm industries, 7 sectors saw month-over job gains; 4 sectors saw a month-over job decline.
In addition to these characteristics, more than 40 social, economic and housing topics are now available through the American Community Survey statistics for all communities in the nation, regardless of size, down to the block group level. For example, health insurance coverage statistics are now available for the first time at the neighborhood level.
Among employers surveyed in the West, 18 percent plan to add staff, while 8 percent anticipate a decline in payrolls, resulting in a Net Employment Outlook of +10% for Quarter 1 2014. According to seasonally adjusted survey results, employers in the West anticipate a relatively stable hiring pace compared to Quarter 4 2013 and one year ago at this time.
The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council annually ranks the 50 states based on policy measures and costs impacting small businesses. For the second year in a row, California ranked No. 50.
In reality, the people who live along the coast should appreciate the “909ers” since they constitute the future – if there is much of one – for Southern California’s middle class. The region has suffered considerably since the Great Recession, in part because of a high concentration of subprime loans taken out on new houses. Yet, for all its problems, the Inland Empire has remained the one place in Southern California where working-class and middle-class people can afford to own a home.