California Employment

California employers spread holiday hiring cheer at the end of last year, adding a net 24,300 payroll jobs in December, the state said Friday in a report that reinforced views of solid economic growth. The number of jobs added in November was revised sharply upward, and the December unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage point to 5.1%, the Employment Development Department reported. "It was a great report....

Thousands of Latinos who live near the border are taking advantage of a benefit increasingly offered by their U.S. employers: cheaper healthcare in Mexico. About 160,000 California workers -- farm laborers as well as working-class Latinos employed at hotels, casinos, restaurants and local governments in San Diego and Imperial counties -- are getting their annual checkups and having surgeries through health networks south of the border, insurers say.

The pace of job growth in California quickened last month, the latest sign that the state's economic comeback was gaining momentum. But new hiring continued to be far weaker than in past recoveries and did not slow an increase in long-term joblessness. A government report Friday showed that employers statewide added a net 22,200 nonfarm jobs in January across a wide range of industries. That was the most since October and accounted for one-fifth of the nation's job growth last month.

Nearly everyone has an opinion about what ails California's workers' compensation system. Safeway Inc. is particularly sore about its chiropractic bills. After a fall or strain, the grocer's California workers visit their chiropractors an average of 40 times -- about four times as often as the company's employees in neighboring Oregon and Arizona.

Describing the lack of health insurance as California's most pressing problem, organized labor launched a statewide campaign Tuesday to pass legislation that would require employers to pay the costs of medical coverage for workers. At a raucous Capitol rally and march, labor leaders and union members proclaimed passage of Senate Bill 2 as their top legislative priority for the year. The bill, co-sponsored by state Senate President Pro Tem John L. Burton (D-San Francisco) and Sen.

Signaling that the economic recovery has yet to reach the job market, California's unemployment rate rose to 6.4% in March, matching the five-year high set at the beginning of the year. Last month's rise from February's revised 6.2% rate was the result of anemic job creation. In March, California employers boosted their payrolls by only a net 200 jobs, underscoring their continued reluctance to hire workers.

United Airlines, citing its reduced service and the weak economy, said Thursday that it plans to close five reservations centers, including four in California, and furlough 899 employees. Amid the deep slump in air travel after Sept. 11, United has slashed its operations by more than 20%--to about 1,650 flights a day--and eliminated about 19,000 of its 100,000 jobs. Despite a busy holiday season, the carrier's "smaller flight schedule and the soft U.S.

Pairing up, they barged into the Santa Ana laundermat and fanned out in opposite directions, swiftly moving in on their targets. "We're with the Marriott," said Teri Michalski, raising her voice above the din of clothes dryers and thrusting a flier at a startled man. "If you or someone you know needs a job, our address is on top."

Boeing Co. agreed Thursday to buy Hughes Electronics Corp.'s renowned satellite-production unit and two related businesses for $3.75 billion in cash, bolstering its position as California's top private employer and as kingpin of the state's aerospace industry. The acquisition, which requires approval from regulators, would give Boeing a key role in commercial and military satellite manufacturing at a time when the market for its commercial jets is maturing.

Unfazed by Asia's financial crisis and the unusually wet weather, California's economic growth accelerated in May, with employers adding nearly 42,000 jobs over the month. That nudged the sliding jobless rate down further from 5.9% in April to 5.8% this month, the lowest in eight years, state officials said Friday. The job gains exceeded analysts' expectations and once again outstripped the national growth rate.