California’s general fund will take in $2 billion more in revenue through June than lawmakers expected when they approved the current budget plan, the Legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal analyst said Wednesday, yet all of the increase will be absorbed by the state’s voter-approved constitutional school-funding guarantee.
. . . a new report out Tuesday from real estate website Trulia, which found that a household earning the median income of $54,000 can afford just 22% of homes in L.A. County on 31% of their income or less. Only in San Francisco, at 15%, can fewer middle-class families afford to buy. Six of the seven least-affordable markets in the nation are in California, including San Diego (25%), Orange County (26%) and Ventura County (33%).
Tax revenue to California’s general fund is running more than $1 billion above estimates since the July 1 start of the fiscal year, the state said Monday, as Gov. Jerry Brown prepares for another round of budget talks next year.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.6 percent in the second quarter of 2014, after decreasing 2.1 percent in the first quarter. Both private goods- and services-producing industries contributed to the increase, while the government sector decreased. Durable‐goods manufacturing; finance and insurance; and retail trade were the leading contributors.
Although the state’s political stage is still filled with bickering over whether the California comeback is real, another economic snapshot has reinforced some optimism: California has advanced two slots to No. 37 on the Forbes ” Best States for Business and Careers” list.
. . . total September exports of $195.6 billion and imports of $238.6 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $43.0 billion, up from $40.0 billion in August, revised. September exports were $3.0 billion less than August exports of $198.6 billion. September imports were $0.1 billion more than August imports of $238.6 billion.
Personal income increased $22.7 billion, or 0.2 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) increased $15.7 billion, or 0.1 percent, in September, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) decreased $19.0 billion, or 0.2 percent. In August, personal income increased $50.7 billion, or 0.3 percent, DPI increased $37.5 billion, or 0.3 percent, and PCE increased $58.7 billion, or 0.5 percent, based on revised estimates.
Real gross domestic product — the value of the production of goods and services in the United States, adjusted for price changes — increased at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2014, according to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 4.6 percent.
The U.S. economy expanded at a healthy pace during the third quarter, a sign of sustained growth fueled by government spending and a narrower trade deficit despite mounting concerns about the health of overseas economies.
Although the report was clearly positive and helped lift stocks, economists at the moment see GDP growth in the last three months of the year coming in at less than 3%. And some special factors in the third-quarter report explain why.
Nearly a quarter of the state’s 38 million residents (8.9 million) live in poverty, a new Census Bureau report says, a level virtually unchanged since the agency first began reporting on the method’s effects.
The average price of regular gasoline in the U.S. slid to the lowest level in more than 10 months, dropping 11.6 cents in the three weeks that ended Friday to $3.26 a gallon, according to a survey of gasoline retailers..
Total revenues in September reached $9.8 billion and beat forecasts contained in the 2014-15 Budget Act by $671 million, or 7.4%. All of the “Big 3” revenue generators — personal income, corporate income, and retail sales taxes — surpassed expectations.
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that total August exports of $198.5 billion and imports of $238.6 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $40.1 billion, down from $40.3 billion in July, revised. August exports were $0.4 billion more than July exports of $198.0 billion. August imports were $0.2 billion more than July imports of $238.3 billion.
The percentage of businesses who expect to trim full-time head counts is in the single digits, with business and professional services most likely to anticipate boosting hiring. More than a third said they’re planning to bring on additional part-time workers.