An illustration of employment in California. (Photo: David Carillet, via Shutterstock)California employers added 47,400 nonfarm payroll jobs in September, the state reported, sending a mixed signal about the state’s economy with less than half of August’s 104,300 new hires. The Employment Development Department said September’s unemployment rate of 7.5% matched August’s 7.5%.
An illustration of California cities that will become part of redrawn political districts for the 2022 elections. (Image: jmrainbow, via Shutterstock)California’s voter-approved redistricting commission, which will draw the political maps for the 2022 elections, is poised to meet amid heightened scrutiny over its personnel changes and severe deadline pressures.
Illustration of school children, education and the pandemic. (Photo: Felipe Sanchez, via Shutterstock)OPINION: California is dealing with cascading crises the likes of which have never been experienced before. Between February 2020 and today, California’s unemployment rate rose from a record low of 3.9% to 13.3%. Nearly two million Californians who were working then aren’t working now. And California’s clean energy economy — which employed 3% of the state’s workforce before COVID-19 — has also taken a hit.
Republican candidate for governor John Cox talks to reporters before launching a statewide bus tour in Sacramento. (Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli)Republican John Cox, running for governor, wants you to realize a few things. California has the highest poverty rate in the nation. Our schools are failing. Millions of forgotten Californians cannot afford decent housing. Millions more must choose between buying a half-tank of gas or groceries for their families. And all of this happened on Gavin Newsom’s watch.
Condos in San Francisco, which has a local rent control ordinance. (Photo: Stephen VanHorn, via Shutterstock)What neither side predicted is that some California tenants faced a nightmare scenario before a single vote was cast. Rent was being increased at one building, the manager said, because “we’re facing rent control and more importantly, the likelihood of controls on increasing rent after vacancies.”
OPINION: It’s the end of August and, like the rest of California, Sacramento is seeing temperatures rise. But over at the Capitol, legislators are sitting in the middle of a blizzard of alarmist rhetoric from the chemical industry about legislation to disclose the use of toxic flame retardants on furniture.
There’s nothing like Sacramento in August: Stifling heat, frantic lobbyists, late-night sessions, pain, general angst – and Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 list. Fits right in. This rundown represents our view of the unelected Capitol community’s inner workings.