Fewer than 15 percent of California workers were members of a union in 2018, the lowest union membership rate in at least 35 years, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. About 14.7 percent of the state’s workers belong to a union in 2018, down from 15.5 percent in 2017. The […]
The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index came in at 56.6 for January, easily surpassing economist expectations for 54 score. This measure of economic activity, which is based on a monthly survey of purchasing managers at roughly 300 manufacturing firms nationwide, had weakened considerably to 54.1 in December and was expected to continue weakening. The […]
Tested in January by a 35-day government shutdown, market volatility and uncertainty about global growth, the U.S. labor market passed with high marks, notching its 100th straight month of increased employment and sustaining robust wage growth. Nonfarm payrolls increased a seasonally adjusted 304,000 in January, the Labor Department said Friday. The gain was well above […]
Is a robot coming for your job? That is more likely if you live in Riverside, San Bernardino, Merced or Modesto, according to a report released Thursday by the Brookings Institution. If you’re in San Francisco or San Jose, you have a better chance of weathering a coming onslaught of automation and artificial intelligence. The […]
A gauge of layoffs across the U.S. fell last week to the lowest level since 1969, suggesting the labor market remains on solid ground despite concerns of slowing economic growth. Initial jobless claims declined by 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 199,000 in the week ended Jan. 19, the Labor Department said Thursday. This marks the […]
The decisions by Amazon and Google to expand into the New York area have led some pundits to claim that the nation’s high-tech economic future will be shaped in dense urban areas. “Big cities won Amazon and everything else,” proclaimed Neil Irwin of the New York Times. “We’re living in a world where a small […]
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling clearing the way for drivers to sue trucking companies could have a major impact on the labor battle that has raged for years at Southern California’s ports, according to worker advocates. Trucking firms may not block workers from filing class-action lawsuits, even if they consider them to be independent contractors […]
Tesla Inc.plans to eliminate 7% of its full-time workforce, the auto maker’s second round of job cuts in a year as it tries to maintain profitability while lowering the price of its Model 3 sedan. The maker of electric vehicles has been jacking up production of the Model 3 while chasing its long-held dream of […]
Advanced manufacturing is exploding across the Bay Area, with about 650 companies using 3-D printers and computer-controlled machines to produce everything from robots to eyeglasses to drones to backpacks. But for most residents the fast-growing sector — and the skills needed to join its workforce — remain a mystery. Now San Francisco Mayor London Breed […]
Californians who like the idea of getting more paid time off work to care for a new baby may find good news and bad news in the details of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget. The bad news: The proposal is not quite as generous as it initially seemed. It doesn’t call for each worker to […]
[12th District] Conditions in the labor market remained tight. Contacts reported that worker shortages persisted across industries and skill levels. Nonetheless, several contacts reported an uptick in the pace of hiring. A major shipping and logistics business in Northern California hired more seasonal workers than usual in response to strong holiday demand. In the restaurant […]
California’s job market finished 2018 on a strong note, as payrolls continued to expand despite concerns over a volatile stock market, a continuing trade war with China and fears of a possible U.S. recession. The state added 24,500 net new positions in December for a total of about 17.28 million, according to the California Employment […]
Nearly half of millennials say they prefer socialism to capitalism, but what do they mean? “My policies most closely resemble what we see in the U.K., in Norway, in Finland, in Sweden,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told “60 Minutes.” Yet Sweden’s experiment with socialist policies was disastrous, and its economic success in recent decades is a […]
As President Trump leads a drive to slash taxes and pare back regulation, one major economy is taking a different approach. Under President Moon Jae-in, South Korea has raised taxes and the minimum wage in the name of economic growth. So far, it hasn’t worked out as planned. Growth has slowed, unemployment has risen and […]
AMERICA’S AGEING economic boom can still produce pleasant surprises. Companies added an astonishing 312,000 new jobs in December, the Bureau of Labour Statistics reported on January 4th, and raised pay at the fastest clip in years. For the third of working-age Americans without any college education, such spells of rapid income growth have been exceedingly […]