Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, April 27. Census + recall What a day Monday was. First, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that California will lose a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in the state’s 171-year history. Then, Secretary of State Shirley Weber announced that supporters of the effort to […]
It’s a troubling trend: For two out of three months in 2021, California’s unemployment rate shrank partly from thousands of people dropping out of the workforce. The Golden State’s unemployment rate hit a pandemic low of 8.3% in March, down from 8.5% in February, according to figures released Friday by the Employment Development Department. But […]
Good morning, California. It’s Friday, April 16. Nearly halfway there California is at its pandemic best. No counties are left in the state’s most restrictive reopening tier. California has the lowest coronavirus positivity rate in the country. And 49% of eligible residents are at least partially vaccinated — a number sure to have crossed the […]
Good morning, California! It’s Monday, April 5. I’m CalMatters politics reporter Ben Christopher, filling in for Emily Hoeven, who is enjoying a much-deserved week off. A “gold rush” amid the calamity This much is not news: California’s Employment Development Department, the state agency responsible for shelling out unemployment claims to millions of jobless Californians, is still […]
Good morning, California. It’s Monday, March 29. Businesses to shoulder costs California’s unemployment rate fell to a pandemic low of 8.5% in February, the Employment Development Department announced Friday — even as its jobless benefits fund sank deeper into the red, imperiling economic recovery. The Golden State recovered nearly 91% of the jobs it lost […]
The state went deep into debt to keep jobless benefits flowing during the pandemic. And if it doesn’t fix its $48 billion unemployment problem, that could derail COVID-19 recovery.