Strong financial results, fueled by bullish stock markets and income-producing real estate, helped boost CalPERS’ funding level to 77% at the end of the 2014 fiscal year, up from 69.8% on June 30, 2013.
U.S. employers advertised the most job openings in nearly 14 years in November, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That suggests businesses are determined to keep adding staff because they are confident strong economic growth will create more demand for their goods and services.
A contract dispute between commercial producers and Teamsters Local 399 has escalated, raising the prospect of the first Hollywood strike by the union in nearly two decades..
The idea, he said, is to broaden the sales tax to possibly include legal work, advertising, Internet usage, dry cleaning and other services. At the same time, he would lower the personal and corporate income tax and even boost the minimum wage.
Employees who while on call are required to stay at a worksite should be compensated for all their hours, including sleep time, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday.
Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown cautioned against “exuberant overkill” on spending when he released his $164.7-billion budget proposal for 2015-16 on Friday, but pressure already is mounting in the Democratic-controlled Legislature to offer more state assistance to Californians struggling financially..
The state overall has been losing people to other parts of the country since the 1990s. A snapshot of more recent U.S. Census migration numbers shows that nearly three-quarters of those who have left California for other states since 2007 earn less than $50,000 a year.
California officials have no plans to make up for an expiring federal pay incentive designed to entice doctors to treat low-income patients..
Already, the specter of California’s regulations are believed to be contributing to record prices for eggs. The average wholesale cost of a dozen large eggs hit a peak of $2 on Thanksgiving Day — doubling in price from the start of November before settling this week to about $1.40. It comes at a time when soaring meat prices are expected to help push U.S. egg consumption to its highest level in seven years.
Hertzberg’s tax increase — introduced as SB 8 immediately after he was sworn in Dec. 1 — actually is long-needed tax reform, the kind that causes most politicians to avert their eyes.
The measure finally would extend the state sales tax to services, the fastest growth sector of California’s economy.
Fed officials, concluding their last meeting of the year Wednesday, issued a statement that essentially left their easy-money policy in place, indicating that their key interest rate would stay near zero for at least a few more months.
The Pacific Coast represents the world’s fifth-largest economy, with a GDP of $2.8 trillion. By working together we are transforming our economies and influencing world markets for the better. Our regional model shows that it is possible to take serious action on climate change and simultaneously expand an economy with well-paying jobs. And we believe it can be a blueprint for other regions to take action.
The state’s jobless rate currently sits at 7.3% — the nation’s fifth highest, and well above the overall U.S. rate of 5.8%. But California’s job creation has outpaced the national average since 2012, a trend that will continue, according to the quarterly UCLA Anderson Forecast released Wednesday.
The proportion of working-age Californians who are employed or actively seeking employment — known as the labor force participation rate — is the smallest it has been since the 1970s. In October, the state’s rate, 62.3%, fell below the national rate of 62.8%. Both rates have fallen sharply since the recession.
Employers in the state are still adding jobs at a faster pace than the rest of the country. But annual job growth nationwide expanded to a nine-month average of 1.8% this year from 1.7% in 2013, while the California rate has fallen to 2.2% from 3% last year.