Stock performance clobbered home prices in 2023, the year after the reverse was true. My trusty spreadsheet looked at a half-century of stock-trading patterns (the Wilshire 5000-stock index) and home-price swings (the Federal Housing Finance Agency US index) to determine how these two assets vary in price fluctuations. Consider that the Wilshire was up 25% … Read more
Southern California added 21,700 real estate workers in the past year, a hiring pace faster than the overall job market. My trusty spreadsheet found property-linked employment in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties was 803,700 in November 2023. That’s off 1,200 for the month, but in pre-pandemic 2015-19, 2,020 jobs were cut on … Read more
SAN DIEGO — It is one of sport’s hoariest and lamest cliches, usually applied as a rationalization for one’s own lack of effort: “The other team wanted it more.” It is an empty sentence, that is, until bowl season. Then there’s some meaning to it, although maybe the phrasing should be flipped: “More of them … Read more
San Diego, CA, November 30, 2023: Distribution clerks Ross Albers, left, and Piero Cavallini put packages on a new Automated Delivery Unit Sorter (ADUS), which is used to automate sorting of smaller packages at Chula Vista’s Main Post Office on Thursday, November 30, 2023. The location has been selected as a new sorting and delivery … Read more
A record number of Southern Californians were working in November, despite a hiring pace that was three-quarters what’s normal for the month. My trusty spreadsheet, filled with state job figures released Friday, Dec. 22, found a record 8.17 million at work in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. That’s a gain of 47,400 … Read more
California’s economy could use some holiday cheer. Yes, like the nation, the state avoided a recession in 2023 despite numerous challenges, including a Federal Reserve throttling business opportunities with high interest rates to chill a nasty bout of inflation. In fact, the state economy’s 3.4% growth, as measured by Gross Domestic Product for 2023’s first … Read more
By Levi Sumagaysay and Shreya Agrawal | CalMatters Californians in two industries are set to get new minimum wages just for them next year, and that could lead to pay bumps for other workers, too. Gov. Gavin Newsom this year signed two union-backed bills that will boost fast-food and health care workers’ minimum wages. California-based … Read more
Nurses, medical assistants, ER techs and others at four Prime Healthcare hospitals launched their second strike of the year Wednesday, Dec. 20, claiming severe understaffing and high turnover have undermined patient care. The 1,800 workers represented by SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West also say Prime management has tried to prevent them from participating in union activities. … Read more
Southern California lost 37,149 residents in the past year, a drop one-third of what was seen in the previous two years. The six-county region had 21.7 million residents, according to the state Department of Finance tally as of July 1. The past year’s population decline was 68% less than the average 115,187 yearly loss in … Read more
Five weeks after a Missouri jury issued a $1.78 billion judgment finding that Realtors charge anticompetitive commission rates, a “copycat” lawsuit has been filed in the Bay Area making similar claims. A Marin County home seller filed the antitrust complaint in federal court this month seeking unspecified damages from the National Association of Realtors, several … Read more
