A bipartisan group of legislators and an unprecedented coalition of varied stakeholder groups have come together to advance a legislative package (Senate Bill 11 and Assembly Bill 8) that provides regulatory relief and certainty to our business community, while also protecting the environment by providing grants to offset the purchase of new agricultural equipment, clean cars, and manufacturing machinery.
Covered California — the state’s new health insurance exchange created as part of the federal health care law — announced Fresno will be the site of one of its three future call centers, creating almost 500 jobs. The center is scheduled to open in the fall with a location to be announced soon.
Hiring slowed sharply in March, with the economy adding only 88,000 jobs, the lowest monthly gain since last June. Economists surveyed by CNNMoney were expecting an increase of 190,000 jobs. The unemployment rate slipped to 7.6%, according to a Labor Department report released Friday.
Women in California hold just 30 percent of green jobs statewide, making the Golden State’s industry gender gap No. 13 nationwide, according to a new report. The Washington-based nonprofit Institute for Women’s Policy Research released the first-of-its-kind national report earlier this week, which ranked Washington D.C. as the nation’s best state for women in green jobs and Maine as the worst.
California’s labor market picked up last month, according to figures released Friday, as the state’s unemployment rate fell to 9.6% and employers added 41,200 jobs. Gains were mostly notched in the leisure and hospitality and government sectors, according to the data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. January’s unemployment rate was 9.8%.
For the second month in a row California has earned the right to be called the state with nation’s highest unemployment rate. Mississippi and Nevada both tied California for the honor at 9.6 percent. Last month, California and Rhode Island shared the nation’s highest unemployment rate at 9.8 percent, but Rhode Island dropped its rate an impressive .4 points, all the way down to 9.4 percent.
California has the most to gain in terms of jobs and economic development when unmanned aircraft are allowed to operate in U.S. airspace, speakers at a symposium on the commercialization of drones said on Wednesday. The growth trajectory of innovation favors the state as military spending on drones decreases and commercial applications, such as firefighting and police uses, increases and universities incorporate creating new technology and uses for drones into their curricula.
A new study says the beer industry contributes as much as $34.2 billion each year to California’s economy and creates 241,640 local jobs. The study by the National Beer Wholesalers Association and the Beer Institute said those jobs represent about $11.1 billion in wages and benefits.
As California’s unemployment rate remains stuck at 9.8% in January, some counties in the Golden State reported jobless rates edging up slightly.
SACRAMENTO — The still-stagnant economy is weighing so heavily on Californians’ minds that it’s crowding out other top issues such as immigration, gun control and climate change — and is stifling support for major statewide initiatives such as high-speed rail and a Central Valley water project.
California’s jobless rate was unchanged at 9.8% in January for the second straight month, and that lack of improvement put the Golden State in a tie with Rhode Island for the worst unemployment in the U.S.
WASHINGTON — Consumer spending grew at a surprisingly strong pace last month, another encouraging sign that the economy may be gaining momentum despite the hit from higher taxes and gas prices and fears of government spending cuts.
While the Bay Area economy remains robust, California has gotten stuck in a slowdown, according to the latest report from the closely watched UCLA Anderson Forecast. But it’s not time to push the panic button.
SACRAMENTO — Except for illegal immigrants, no group has more at stake in the national fight over immigration reform than California farmers.
The Southern California economy will show modest but widespread improvement over the next year, with Orange County and the Inland Empire leading the region in employment gains, according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.