California will experience faster economic growth in 2014 and 2015, according to the latest projection from the Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific. The Center forecasts real gross state product will grow 3.3% in 2014, and accelerate to 3.9% in 2015 as the housing recovery begins to fuel new construction and job growth. The nearly 4% growth rate in 2015 will be the highest California has experienced since 2005.
The American Community Survey (ACS) and the Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS) ask respondents age 1 year and over whether they lived in the same residence 1 year ago. For people who lived in a different residence, the location of their previous residence is collected. The state-to-state migration flows are created from tabulations of the current state (including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) of residence crossed by state of residence 1 year ago. Tables of ACS state-to-state flows are available going back to the 2005 ACS – the first year of full implementation of the survey. People living in group quarters (e.g. adult correctional facilities, nursing facilities, college/university student housing, and military quarters) were added to the sample for the first time starting with the 2006 ACS.
Amid concerns about crime, half of Californians support the state’s plan to reduce prison overcrowding. Majorities favor regulating fracking, but Californians are divided on water policy. A slim majority support health care reform, an overwhelming majority favor immigration reform, and there are record-high levels of support for legalizing both same-sex marriage (61%) and marijuana (52%).
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.
“Between August 27 and September 5, Hoover’s Golden State Poll (a joint collaboration of the Hoover Institution and the research firm YouGov) surveyed 1,000 Californians on their confidence in California’s recovery – their job security and pocketbook choices (last October, a Hoover/YouGov survey sampled Californians’ attitudes toward state government and policy choices in Sacramento). . . . Twice as many Californians reported being worse-off financially (33%) than better off (17%) over the last year. . . . Among survey respondents who are currently employed, more than half (55%) said they weren’t confident in their ability to find another job in California within 6 months that pays as much as they are making now.”
Real spending on travel and tourism decelerated in the second quarter of 2013, increasing at an annual rate of 2.5 percent after increasing 7.3 percent (revised) in the first quarter of 2013. By comparison, growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) accelerated, increasing 2.5 percent (second estimate) in the second quarter after increasing 1.1 percent in the first quarter.
As the economy improves and states continue to vie for new investment and jobs, they also seek the attention of site consultants who help companies make their new facility and expansion decisions. With that in mind, Area Development’s fourth annual Top States for Doing Business survey of site consultants ranks the states based on their number of mentions in 17 categories (scores were weighted based on position in each category and then overall).
Regional entrepreneurship ecosystems, aka startup communities, are being studied and touted as the next new thing in economic development for cities and metropolitan areas across the country—especially in the high-technology and information technology (ICT) sectors. And for good reason. According to a report by Ian Hathaway of Engine that looked closely at the dynamism of the high-tech and ICT sectors in the United States, particularly new and young companies, these are the firms that create jobs at the fastest pace and are important drivers of economic growth.
Our research finds little evidence of a meaningful and persistent skills gap in most parts of the U.S., including in its most important manufacturing zones. The real problem is that companies have become too passive in recruiting and developing skilled workers at a time when the U.S. education system has moved away from a focus on manufacturing skills in order to put greater emphasis on other capabilities. Over the long term, therefore, serious skills shortages could develop unless action is taken.
The five states with the highest average combined rates are Tennessee (9.44 percent), Arkansas (9.18 percent), Louisiana (8.89 percent), Washington (8.87 percent), and Oklahoma (8.72 percent). . . California, which raised its sales and income taxes through the initiative process in November of 2012, has the highest state-level rate at 7.5 percent.] Five states tie for the second-highest statewide rate with 7 percent each: Indiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Tennessee.
The California Film & Television Tax Credit Program (Program) was enacted in February 2009 as part of a targeted economic stimulus package to increase film and television production spending, jobs and tax revenues in California. The Program has just commenced its 5th fiscal year. This report will summarize the Program’s progress from its launch in July 2009 through June 2013, and includes spending estimates and project information for the current fiscal year (July 2013 – June 2014). The report also includes a brief overview of California’s entertainment industry and the growing competition for our state’s motion picture production spending, as well as supplementary background on the changing landscape for scripted television series production.
We project that the U.S., as a result of its increasing competitiveness in manufacturing, will capture $70 billion to $115 billion in annual exports from other nations by the end of the decade. About two-thirds of these export gains could come from production shifts to the U.S. from leading European nations and Japan. By 2020, higher U.S. exports, combined with production work that will likely be “reshored” from China, could create 2.5 million to 5 million American factory and service jobs associated with increased manufacturing.
California’s job market is experiencing a sustained increase in employment as the state continues to emerge from the Great Recession. However, even with unemployment falling, California’s job market recovery has not reached large segments of California’s workers. After more than three years of job growth, the pace of the recovery has been on par with that of previous recoveries in the state, which is bad news for California’s workers given the historic severity of job losses during the Great Recession. A majority of California counties still have unemployment rates in the double digits, and long-term unemployment remains a serious concern: More than two in five unemployed Californians have been searching for work for at least six months. And for those who do have work, this recovery has not yet produced the mix of jobs that would lead to broad-based economic growth. California’s recovery has disproportionately relied on low-wage service industries for job growth, and jobs generally have not returned in occupations that tend to pay wages in the middle of the earnings distribution. These weaknesses in the current recovery mean that challenges facing California even before the recession began, such as wage stagnation and widening inequality, continue today.
Unconventional oil and natural gas activity is reshaping America’s energy future and bringing significant benefits to the US economy in terms of jobs, government revenues, and GDP. This study provides the foundation for a dialogue focused on the still-evolving but transformative economic effects of this unconventional revolution.
New Report Shows Shale Development Supporting Millions of Jobs and Boosting Income and Trade
Washington, D.C., September 4, 2013 – According to a report released today, the United States will continue to reap enormous economic and job-creation benefits from domestic oil and shale gas production.