California Employment

California's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 10.9% in February even as the state added thousands of new jobs. The percentage of jobless workers held the same as January, though it was down from 12.0% in February last year. The rate remained the same even as the state added 4,000 total jobs in February, according to the California Employment Development Department. The state has gained a total of 333,100 jobs since the recovery began in September 2009. The U.S. unemployment rate was unchanged in February at 8.3%.

Central Valley farmers, Southern California bankers and Silicon Valley executives have all struggled to find workers - and they say an outdated immigration policy has been to blame. They're all hoping that a bipartisan group of U.S. senators will have the answer when it unveils its plan, as early as this week, to overhaul federal immigration laws. Their stance: Reform couldn't come quickly enough. "What's at stake is the future of our economy, whether we can remain the most entrepreneurial nation," said Steve Case, co-founder of America Online and now chairman of investment firm Revolution.

California Employment Figures Due: An update on California's job market, which has recovered modestly in recent months despite signs of economic weakness nationally, is due out Friday when officials release employment figures for June. In May, California gained 15,300 jobs despite a nose dive in the U.S. job market that eliminated 101,000 workers from employers' payrolls. But the state's unemployment rate, based on a separate survey, has been rising since February. It hit 8.

SACRAMENTO -- California's 10 biggest-spending special interest groups paid lobbyists about $57 million to lobby the Legislature, the governor's administration and other state agencies. The biggest spender during the two-year legislative session that recessed Sept. 30 was the Western States Petroleum Assn. The group, which represents international oil giants and small, independent producers, reported expenses of $8.5 million. Quiz: How much do you know about California's economy?

Underscoring the growing sense that the economic recoveries in California and Los Angeles County have packed more punch than initially believed, officials on Friday unveiled revised employment figures showing an improved job picture for 1994. The state enjoyed a modest but welcome gain of as many as 148,200 jobs last year. The previous official numbers--based on a relatively small sampling--portrayed California's job total as virtually unchanged.

SACRAMENTO -- California's unemployment rate fell to 10.2% in September from 10.6% in August, the second-largest drop in the nation. But just 8,500 net new jobs were created, according to the California Employment Development Department. The two statistics show somewhat different monthly trends because the unemployment rate is based on a survey of households while the total employment number comes from a more accurate check of businesses. The California results tracked national Department of Labor figures, released Oct. 5, that showed the national unemployment rate falling by three-tenths of a percentage point to 7.8% -- its lowest level in 3 1/2  years -- but only 114,000 net new jobs being created nationally.

California's economic recovery speeded up last month, with the state gaining an ample 34,100 jobs and the unemployment rate sinking to 7% from a revised 7.2% in July. August is the fifth consecutive month in which the jobless rate hit or maintained lows not seen in more than five years, meaning California is on a faster employment-growth track than the nation as a whole. State officials also reported Friday that some of the good economic news applies to long-suffering Los Angeles County.

Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress Wednesday that the Federal Reserve Board will cut interest rates at the first hint of a recession. The Fed, he said, is even prepared to drive interest rates down to overcome any drag on the economy from a combination of spending cuts and higher taxes required to make a major dent in the federal deficit.

Japanese companies added more muscle to their No. 1 position as California's leading foreign employer by adding more than 27,000 workers to their payrolls over the last four years, according to a study released Thursday. The survey of firms that belong to the Japan Business Assn. of Southern California showed that Japan-based companies employ a total of 77,610 people throughout the state.

Despite the widespread attention focused on "downsizing" at America's leading companies, a new survey of big and medium-sized employers finds that they have been doing more hiring than firing. But the study found that major employers in California--notwithstanding an ongoing economic recovery nurtured by gains in high technology, entertainment and foreign trade--are still adding fewer workers than their counterparts in other states.

SACRAMENTO -- California's unemployment rate fell to 10.2% in September from 10.6% in August, the second-largest drop in the nation. But just 8,500 net new jobs were created, according to the California Employment Development Department. The two statistics show somewhat different monthly trends because the unemployment rate is based on a survey of households while the total employment number comes from a more accurate check of businesses. The California results tracked national Department of Labor figures, released Oct. 5, that showed the national unemployment rate falling by three-tenths of a percentage point to 7.8% -- its lowest level in 3 1/2  years -- but only 114,000 net new jobs being created nationally.

California's surprising resilience earlier this summer is fading as a slow global and U.S. economy damp the state's job prospects. The state's payrolls posted a lackluster net gain of 12,000 jobs in August, according to data from the Employment Development Department. Further, July's job gains were revised downward to 17,900 from 25,200 as originally reported. Hiring helped push down the jobless rate only slightly to 10.6% last month from 10.7% in July. "California continues to post sustained job growth, faster than the nation but slower than we hoped for," said Stephen Levy, director of the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy in Palo Alto.

SACRAMENTO - California employers face new restrictions against shunting Sikh and Muslim workers out of public view for wearing turbans, beards and hijabs, under a bill signed Saturday by Gov. Jerry Brown. The measure could affect workplaces from Disneyland to San Quentin Prison. "This bill, AB 1964, makes it very clear that wearing any type of religious clothing or hairstyle, particularly such as Sikhs do … is protected by law and nobody can discriminate against you because of that," Brown told some 400 Sikhs and supporters at a rally of the North American Punjabi Assn.

California's labor market continued its slow improvement in March as employers added jobs for the eighth straight month. Payrolls grew by 18,200 jobs last month, according to figures released Friday by the California Employment Development Department. That's on top of a revised gain of 38,600 jobs in February. The unemployment rate increased to 11% in March, up slightly from February's 10.9% rate. Improved employment prospects have encouraged more idled California workers to start job hunting again, driving the unemployment rate higher, said Dennis Meyers, principal economist for the state's Department of Finance.

California's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 10.9% in February even as the state added thousands of new jobs. The percentage of jobless workers held the same as January, though it was down from 12.0% in February last year. The rate remained the same even as the state added 4,000 total jobs in February, according to the California Employment Development Department. The state has gained a total of 333,100 jobs since the recovery began in September 2009. The U.S. unemployment rate was unchanged in February at 8.3%.

Even though the labor market is improving, thousands of unemployed Californians are caught in a bind: Some employers only want to hire them if they already have a job. Some companies state that plainly in employment ads. Others are more discreet, screening out jobless workers during the initial application process. Discrimination? Perhaps. But so far it's legal. But it won't be if a bill introduced this week by Assemblyman Michael Allen (D-Santa Rosa) is approved by California lawmakers.

The Internet and furniture makers may be at opposite ends of the technology spectrum, but both are contributing to job growth in California that could hit a healthy 3.7% this year, according to a UCLA report released Wednesday. Economists from the UCLA-Anderson Forecast Project said in their report that the California economy is entering a period of strong growth that will add 1.2 million jobs within three years.

California's surging economy added 20,100 jobs in June across a broad spectrum of industries, further trimming the state's unemployment rate to a seven-year low of 6.2%, down from a revised 6.4% the previous month, officials reported Friday. Orange County's jobless rate edged up slightly, but economists weren't worried, especially since the county added 4,900 new nonfarm jobs to the payrolls last month. Also, the county's 3.3% rate, up from May's revised 3.