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This spring, payroll employment in the US reached an all-time high, finally surpassing the pre-recession peak of 138.4 million jobs in the first quarter of 2008. At that time many said that the 8.7 million jobs lost in the Great Recession had at last been re-gained. However, they are not the same jobs that were lost, nor will unemployment have returned to a level less than the 5% of 2008. Much press reporting during this long economic recovery has expressed worry that low wage jobs dominate the labor market rebound, that the middle income household has not advanced economically, and that most of the income gains of the US have gone to those with high incomes, skewing the distribution of income in the US towards the wealthy or high-income earners.

PG&E residential customers can expect a 5.8 percent increase in their gas and electricity bills starting in September after approval by state regulators Thursday of the utility’s request for rate hikes.

California added more than 27,000 jobs in July, but the state unemployment rate remained flat at 7.4% as the size of the labor force shrank slightly from last month’s estimates..

The association said California car and light truck sales improved 7.3 percent in the first six months of 2014. That compared with a 5.4 percent increase nationwide.

Nowhere is that trend more pronounced than in Silicon Valley where the economic divide is widening between highly educated and skilled high-tech workers and low-paid workers who are trying to piece together a living in one of the country’s most expensive places.

Developing more startup companies based on UC Davis inventions has been a goal of Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi since she took over at Davis in 2009.

California has experienced rapid population growth for most of its history, but that trend has come to an end. California’s population grew by 2.9 percent over the last three years, only slightly above the nation’s 2.4 percent increase. Over the last few decades, millions of Californians have left the Golden State for opportunities elsewhere.

The U.S. economy earlier this year recovered all the jobs lost during the recession, but those new jobs pay an average of 23% less than the ones lost in the downturn, according to an analysis released Monday by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Southern California home sales plunged in July and show little signs of rebounding. And that, economists say, could stunt the region’s economic growth..

A spokeswoman declined to disclose how many layoffs would occur in Silicon Valley. Cisco, which is San Jose’s biggest employer, has been steadily selling off office buildings and land holdings over the last couple of years as it has shrunk headcount.

The state would exempt Tesla Motors Inc. from some of its toughest environmental regulations as part of an incentive package being discussed with the automaker to build a massive battery factory in California, a key state senator said..

The study (PDF), prepared by the economic consulting company IHS Global Insight (IHS), also compares which metro areas have the most households in the top, bottom, and middle thirds of the country’s income distribution. The areas with the fewest middle-income households are mostly coastal: Out of the 357 metro areas, San Jose has the lowest percentage of households making more than $35,000 and less than $75,000, followed by the areas around Bridgeport, Conn.; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco and Oakland; Boston; and New York. The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro areas have the highest percentage of households making more than $75,000 and the lowest percentage making less than $35,000.

The governing board of the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau, comprised mostly of insurance industry representatives, voted to file an advisory rate of $2.86 per $100 of payroll, 11 percent more than the industry’s premium average as of July 1.

California businesses on average have 19 percent higher operating costs per job than businesses in the rest of the country, according to a study released by the California Foundation for Commerce and Education. Business operating costs in California are on average 16% higher than for firms in large industrial states, and are 10% higher than the average of Western states.

With almost no debate, the state Assembly on Monday unanimously approved a nearly half-a-billion dollar potential tax credit for Northrop Grumman Corp. should it win a new Air Force bomber contract and build the aircraft in California.