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
A strike by county-employed doctors, dentists, psychiatrists and veterinarians in Los Angeles was averted Friday, Dec. 22 when the two sides agreed to have third-party experts intervene. The employees, who are represented by the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, say their current benefits plan, Choices, is the same one provided to rank-and-file county workers. … 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
I often forget the sheer size of the Southern California economy. My trusty spreadsheet — filled with the federal government’s annual accounting of gross domestic product by county — says the six-county region produced $1.57 trillion worth of goods in services in 2022. Now 13-digit numbers are hard to fathom. So let’s add some perspective … Read more
James L. Doti, Chapman University President Emeritus and Professor of Economics, speaks during the 2023 Economic and Business Review, an economic forecast for Orange County, California and the U.S., at Chapman University on Thursday, June 22, 2023 in Orange. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG) Chapman University economist James Doti expected a dour 2023: … Read more
It was inevitable, but heartbreaking nonetheless. No one lives forever, but if anyone deserved an endless life it was John Shear, Santa Anita’s beloved “Paddock Captain” who died Tuesday at a rehabilitation facility in Arcadia. In his 1968 hit song “Abraham, Martin and John (yes, some of us are old enough to remember it),” Dion … Read more
