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Company: Walt Disney Co.CA Net Job Gain/Loss: -150Reason: LayoffCity/Region Losing Jobs: San Francisco, CANotes: Layoffs in LucasArts video game subsidiary

A growing education gap in California could diminish workers’ chances of finding jobs in the coming years, according to a study.

LUDWIGSHAFEN, Germany — The sprawling chemical plant in this city along the Rhine River has been a jewel of Germany’s manufacturing-led economy for more than a century. But the plunging price of natural gas in the United States has European companies setting sail across the Atlantic to stay competitive.

LUDWIGSHAFEN, Germany — The sprawling chemical plant in this city along the Rhine River has been a jewel of Germany’s manufacturing-led economy for more than a century. But the plunging price of natural gas in the United States has European companies setting sail across the Atlantic to stay competitive.

One figure in a new report neatly summarizes the potential pitfalls for Obamacare: 30.1%. That’s how much premiums could rise next year, on average, for the roughly 1.3 million moderate- and upper-income Californians who buy individual health insurance policies.

California’s labor market picked up last month, according to figures released Friday, as the state’s unemployment rate fell to 9.6% and employers added 41,200 jobs. Gains were mostly notched in the leisure and hospitality and government sectors, according to the data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. January’s unemployment rate was 9.8%.

For the second month in a row California has earned the right to be called the state with nation’s highest unemployment rate. Mississippi and Nevada both tied California for the honor at 9.6 percent. Last month, California and Rhode Island shared the nation’s highest unemployment rate at 9.8 percent, but Rhode Island dropped its rate an impressive .4 points, all the way down to 9.4 percent.

Company: First California BankCA Net Job Gain/Loss: -55Reason: LayoffCity/Region Losing Jobs: Westlake Village, CANotes: In connection with PacWest Bancorp Merger

Proposed legislation to raise the state minimum wage could eliminate tens of thousands of jobs and harm the California economy, a small-business advocacy group said.

California has the most to gain in terms of jobs and economic development when unmanned aircraft are allowed to operate in U.S. airspace, speakers at a symposium on the commercialization of drones said on Wednesday. The growth trajectory of innovation favors the state as military spending on drones decreases and commercial applications, such as firefighting and police uses, increases and universities incorporate creating new technology and uses for drones into their curricula.

A new study says the beer industry contributes as much as $34.2 billion each year to California’s economy and creates 241,640 local jobs. The study by the National Beer Wholesalers Association and the Beer Institute said those jobs represent about $11.1 billion in wages and benefits.

Coincidentally, three otherwise unrelated events last week framed California’s somewhat clouded economic situation. One was a revelation that the state now is tied with Rhode Island for the nation’s highest unemployment rate, 9.8 percent.

As one of just a few states that impose a sales tax on manufacturing and R&D equipment, California imposes higher equipment costs on its manufacturers, which may drive them out of state, Annette Nellen, a professor at San Jose State University, writes in this week’s issue of the Weekly State Tax Report.

As California’s unemployment rate remains stuck at 9.8% in January, some counties in the Golden State reported jobless rates edging up slightly.

Once every four years, America’s civil engineers rate the nation’s major infrastructure and issue a Report Card for America’s Infrastructure (Report Card). We got our copy from Stephen Urbanek, pavement preservation manager for Sonoma County’s Department of Transportation and Public Works.