A mixed record for business in this year’s legislative session got a bit of a boost when the governor signed a slew of bills intended to help business. While the latest flurry of bill signings is good news, big issues still concern the business community.
A new 16-state study of workers’ compensation systems, covering 60 percent of the nation’s workers, says it’s too early to tell what the real-world effects of SB 863 will be, specifically whether its cost-saving provisions will offset the costs of increased cash payments, as its sponsors promised.
As late as the 80s, California was democratic in a fundamental sense, a place for outsiders and, increasingly, immigrants—roughly 60 percent of the population was considered middle class. Now, instead of a land of opportunity, California has become increasingly feudal. According to recent census estimates, the state suffers some of the highest levels of inequality in the country. By some estimates, the state’s level of inequality compares with that of such global models as the Dominican Republic, Gambia, and the Republic of the Congo.
Location production days increased 9.5 percent in the quarter to 11,792, according to FilmL.A., a downtown Los Angeles non-profit organization that handles production permitting in the City of Los Angeles, unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County and other local jurisdictions.
New research from the Federal Reserve indicates the share of middle-skill jobs in the workforce has dropped from 25% in 1985 to just above 15% today, part of the hollowing-out effect that David Autor of MIT has documented. And as our chart above shows, middle-wage jobs — those that pay between $13.84 and $21.13 per hour, as defined by the National Employment Law Project — sustained much deeper cuts during the 2008-2009 recession than high- and low-wage jobs.
A new analysis of the last decade of investment in California’s clean technology sector shows that although venture capitalists remain key players, different types of investors are becoming ever more important to the growth of the sector.
“Private-sector employment gains picked up slightly in September, as businesses added 166,000 jobs, according to a hiring report that has taken on more importance as a timely measure of the labor market amid the likely delay of the government’s monthly statistics.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected the monthly report from payroll processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. ADP -0.19%and forecasting firm Moody’s Analytics to show an increase of 178,000 jobs. The August ADP employment increase was revised to 159,000 from 176,000 reported a month ago.”
“The economy in the city of Los Angeles grew at a faster rate than the nation last year, according to a report released by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Wednesday.
The report, prepared by Beacon Economics, a Los Angeles economic consulting firm, said the city of Los Angeles had a 3.8 percent increase in payroll jobs to about 1.5 million jobs last year, the sharpest increase since 2005 and nearly double the national rate.
… But the job growth was most concentrated in four of the city’s 15 council districts: just north of downtown, the Westside, west of downtown and the southeastern San Fernando Valley. Eight council districts saw little job growth, while three council districts saw job losses.”
“Paramount Pictures announced layoffs on Tuesday as part of the studio’s effort to cut costs.
The Hollywood studio, owned by Viacom Inc. of New York, notified employees that 110 staffers will be cut from departments including finance, human resources, IT, legal and marketing.”
US factory activity expanded last month at the fastest pace in 2 ½ years, an encouraging sign that manufacturing could lift economic growth and hiring in the coming months.
After 10+ Years of Losses, California Posted its First Back-to-Back Years of Manufacturing Job Gains in 2011 & 2012.
OAKLAND – Acting to help California’s working families, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed AB 10 by Assemblymember Luis Alejo (D-Salinas), which will raise the minimum wage in California from $8.00 per hour to $10.00 per hour.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that will raise California’s minimum wage to $10 an hour by 2016, a move celebrated by workers but criticized by many businesses.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that will raise California’s minimum wage to $10 an hour by 2016, a move celebrated by workers but criticized by many businesses.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s (BLS) August state employment report released last Friday, Texas’ entrepreneurs added more jobs over the last year than any other state in the nation. To further solidify the state’s job creation success, Texas’ unemployment rate has now been lower than the national average, and California’s, for 80 consecutive months — longer than President Obama has been in office (see below).