News

Federal officials awarded California’s new health insurance exchange a $674-million grant, providing money for a crucial marketing campaign aimed at millions of uninsured consumers.

The San Francisco Bay Area, a region that encompasses booming Silicon Valley, led California in job growth last year as the technology industry workforce rose.

Unemployment rates held steady in California and Los Angeles County last month but the Inland Empire saw a decline, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday.

California’s labor market slowed last month as employers shed 17,500 jobs in December and the unemployment rate remained unchanged.

Manufacturing is staging a big comeback in the United States, according to a new U.S. Commerce Department report, but a new state employment report indicates that manufacturing is continuing its years-long slide in California.

Silicon Valley leaped back to the top of a list of “best-performing cities” put out by the Milken Institute. The cumbersomely named San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area hasn’t taken the top spot since 2001.

Company: BoxCA Net Job Gain/Loss: -330Reason: Invest Elsewhere, Out of CountryCity/Region Losing Jobs: Los Altos, CACity/Region Gaining Jobs: Japan, Germany, France, The Neterlands, Brazil, Australia

While Congress and the president recently hiked taxes for 77 percent of the nation’s taxpayers, proposals for sweeping tax cuts continue to gain momentum at the state level. As the White House and Congress seem determined to make the U.S. even less economically competitive, states like Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma are considering a phase-out of their income taxes. The Wall Street Journal correctly calls it a “Heartland Tax Rebellion.”

When it was first signed into law by Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1970, the California Environmental Quality Act represented a groundbreaking statement by Californians that our environment was important and deserved protection.

California’s median home price struck a four-year high for a December, indicating housing will probably continue to mend in the new year.

Gov. Jerry Brown, who has occasionally been prickled by claims that Texas is a better place to do business than California, was asked on Marketplace Morning Report today if the Golden State was falling behind.

Company: StumbleUponCA Net Job Gain/Loss: -35Reason: LayoffCity/Region Losing Jobs: San Francisco, CA

In the past 12 years, the Inland Empire beat out high-tech hubs like Seattle, San Francisco and Silicon Valley in the creation of high-tech jobs.

Company: Graton Resort and CasinoCA Net Job Gain/Loss: 2000Reason: ExpandCity/Region Gaining Jobs: Rohnert Park, CANotes: New casino/resort being built

Melton International Tackle, which sells fishing gear worldwide, is marking 20 years in business in Anaheim during 2013. It may be the last.