Economy

Global supply chain problems have led to a massive backup at Southern California ports. California lawmakers are asking experts about what the state could do to help — including locating temporary storage, growing the truck driving and warehouse workforces, suspending regulations and creating a new inland port.

California’s child care workforce is still 10% smaller than it was before the pandemic, as low wages contribute to acute staffing shortages.

A preliminary estimate shows that the Caldor Fire cost tens of millions in lost economic activity. Wildfires, and the economic disruption they cause, have a large economic impact. But right now, California has a mostly incomplete picture of how much fires cost the state each year.

The UC workforce has a churn problem. About a quarter of the more than 6,000 lecturers at the University of California don’t return annually. Relatively low pay and little job stability are some of the reasons why, a CalMatters analysis shows. If lecturers strike, more than a third of classes will be canceled.

A state law gave California workers as much as two weeks additional paid sick leave during COVID-19, but it ended Sept. 30 as a federal tax credit that offsets the cost for employers also expires. Labor groups say the extra leave should be restored. And Gov. Gavin Newsom now says the Legislature should do so.

California lawmakers are looking to pass a bill that would give farmworkers more ways to vote in union elections. Business groups have labeled it a job killer but United Farm Workers, which sponsored the bill, says it’s akin to the state’s new vote-by-mail system.

California businesses are responding to a labor shortage with social media pleas, hiring incentives, bonuses and new benefits. So far, workers, particularly in the service industry, are seeing wages rise.

California’s economy is no longer at its nadir. But small businesses are still working to get back to normal, and are struggling with hiring, childcare for their workforce and the uncertainty of future outbreaks.

Lawmakers have agreed to pay off $2 billion of Californians' utilities debt, but haven’t extended the shutoff moratoria past Sept. 30. One family's experience of surviving a heat wave without water or power reveals what’s at stake.

Small business owners are still dealing with the consequences of the pandemic, with marginalized groups facing additional obstacles to loans