While L.A.’s jobless rate dipped to 5.8 percent in January, employers in the county shed almost 88,000 jobs from their payrolls, marking an especially dismal start to the year, according to state figures released Friday.
The problem with inclusionary policies and other coercive approaches to housing, such as rent control ordinances, is that while they may be politically gratifying, they divert attention from the real problem of housing in California, which is that we have way too little of it.
California boasts some of the highest wages and fastest rates of job growth in the nation but high housing costs are pushing many people out of the state, according to a trio of reports released Wednesday.
Our policymakers and voters need to heed the Governor’s advice, nonpartisan state numbers, and data that’s trickling in from other cities that are now grappling with grim reality of these hikes before moving forward in any way. Let’s allow the ink to dry, dust to settle and current minimum wage policy – notably our statewide increase – to first play out so we can see what the impacts truly are. Otherwise, instead of branding it a “fair wage” we’ll all see it for what it truly is: a “fare wage”, with every one of us taxpayers – seniors, schools, disabled and many others – paying down an outrageous bill and debt for generations to come.
The report, from Bay Area think-tank Next 10, found only Alaska had fewer housing permits for every 100 new residents over the last decade. Between 2005 and 2015 – which includes the last couple years of the housing boom – there were only 21.5 permits issued in California for every 100 people new to the state.
State gas taxes vary widely. The highest state gas tax is assessed in Pennsylvania, at 50.4 cents per gallon, with Washington State (44.5 cpg) and New York (42.64 cpg) following closely behind. Alaska drivers pay the lowest rate in the country at 12.25 cents per gallon. These figures do not include the 18.4 cpg federal gas tax.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased in 47 states [CA at 2.1%] and the District of Columbia in the third quarter of 2015, according to statistics on the geographic breakout of GDP released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Overall, U.S. real GDP by state growth slowed to an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the third quarter of 2015 after increasing 3.8 percent in the second quarter. Retail trade; health care and social assistance; and agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting were the leading contributors to real U.S. economic growth in the third quarter.
The state has a good cap and trade system, Robert Stavins said, but some of its other environmental policies are weakening it. He pointed to a rule known as the low carbon fuel standard, which is supposed to increase production of clean fuels. Environmental advocates consider it a complement to the cap and trade program that makes industry pay for emitting carbon; Stavins had other words.
In another sign that a once-promising El Niño weather pattern is proving to be no drought-buster, California officials say an unseasonably warm and dry February shrunk the Sierra snowpack to below average depths.
A new generation of innovators is pioneering the future of nuclear energy in partnership with ourNational Labs. Citizens and policymakers leading the global transition to a low-carbon economy are focusing efforts on developing — and building — advanced nuclear reactors. To support these efforts, the Department of Energy is working to forge key partnerships and support a culture of nuclear innovation driven by this new generation of scientists, university researchers, entrepreneurs and investors.
For a city to sustain itself, it must provide a wide range of opportunities–not just for the affluent. The city, better seen as a metropolitan area, needs to addrss the diverse interests and preferences of its residents. And given that those interests and preferences are constantly evolving, the “over planning” mindset is untenable, even dangerous, to the future of cities that embrace it.
The Distressed Communities Index (DCI) is a customized dataset created by EIG examining economic distress throughout the country and made up of interactive maps, infographics, and a report. It captures data from more than 25,000 zip codes (those with populations over 500 people). In all, it covers 99 percent — 312 million — of Americans.
Growth in “labor quality,” a measure of the skill set of the average worker, has declined in the last few years, according to the report. In 2015, the growth in overall workforce skills contributed less than 0.1 percentage points to GDP growth, the smallest contribution of labor quality to growth since 1979. Michael Feroli, the author of the note, estimates that contribution will remain below 0.1 percentage points for the next few years.
The EU is set to emit 2bn tonnes more CO2 than it promised at the Paris climate talks, threatening an agreement to cap global warming at 2C, a note from the European commission has revealed.
Thumbing through the annual report of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is always an education. This year’s 430-page edition is no exception. Crammed with tables and charts, it brims with useful facts and insights.