The Commerce Department sharply reduced its estimate of fourth-quarter growth to a moderate 2.4% annual rate. Friday’s revision downsized big gains in consumer spending and exports from its initial estimate of 3.2% in January.
Set to be released Thursday, the study entitled “A Hollywood Exit: What California Must Do to Remain Competitive in Entertainment — and Keep Jobs,” paints a bleak picture of the jobs California has lost to New York and other rivals due to the proliferation of film tax credits and rebates.
There’s a surprise side order of sourpuss getting served up in the national argument over raising the minimum wage: Some say they’ll stop tipping when they go out to eat.
Tesla Motors confirmed Wednesday that Nevada is a site finalist for a massive lithium ion battery factory it needs to support a ramped up production of its electric cars. According to Tesla’s blog, Nevada is competing against New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. Final site selection is underway as the states engage in a tax incentive bidding war for the plant. A decision could come anyday.
Huy Fong Foods, the creator of Sriracha hot sauce, has been closed to the public for more than 30 years, fearing that competitors would steal trade secrets. But after months of Irwindale residents and city officials accusing the sauce maker of flooding their city with an offensive spicy odor, the notoriously private company has thrown open its doors.
SACRAMENTO – Bolstering the state’s efforts to grow international business opportunities for California’s companies, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today established the California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council and appointed former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary Eleni Kounalakis as chair.
Germany’s exports would have been €15bn higher last year if its industry had not paid a premium for electricity compared with international competitors, according to an analysis published on Thursday.
A commission of experts appointed by the German parliament has recommended Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to abolish all subsidies for green energy, highlighting mounting opposition to plans to reform instead of scrap the system.
Cox Communications said Wednesday it is closing a call center in San Diego, eliminating 500 jobs. . . . Company spokesman Dennis Morgigno said the expanded call centers will be located in Las Vegas; Phoenix; Omaha, Neb.; Oklahoma City; Wichita, Kan.; Hampton Roads, Va.; and Baton Rouge.
The Palo Alto, Calif., company outlined plans for a factory that would employ up to 6,500 people and cover as many as 1,000 acres, including solar and wind farms to supply its power needs. It is evaluating sites in Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas, Tesla said in a regulatory filing.
“Here in the wealthy heart of Silicon Valley, the roads are pocked with potholes, the libraries are closed three days a week and a slew of city recreation centers have been handed over to nonprofit groups. Taxes have gone up even as city services are in decline, and Mayor Chuck Reed is worried. . . . In San Jose and across the nation, state and local officials are increasingly confronting a vision of startling injustice: Poor and middle-class taxpayers — who often have no retirement savings — are paying higher taxes so public employees can retire in relative comfort.”
Dozens of Los Angeles film and television workers gathered at Los Angeles City Hall on Monday night to share somber stories of layoffs and diminishing job opportunities in the entertainment industry.
It’s been “disheartening as we have watched feature film work flee the city, and television production drop precipitously. Many people have dropped out altogether,” one source told us via our Public Insight Network. On Facebook, Rita Lilly wrote: “Finding work for a lot of nice, hard-working, middle-class people is becoming progressively harder.”
Federal officials announced Friday that the ongoing drought in California means there likely will be no water available for agricultural water customers in the Central Valley this year, including its customers in the Sacramento Valley.
On Feb. 4, GenCorp said it would cut 5 percent of its nationwide workforce to gain efficiencies from the merger. At 5 percent, the cuts worked out to 225 employees across the country, and it turns out they are mostly in California.