Unemployment

California's unemployment department is making progress on key reforms, but some of the most transformational changes are still years away.

Good morning, California. It’s Thursday, October 7. Big decisions await T-minus three days. That’s how much time Gov. Gavin Newsom has left to decide the fate of the remaining bills on his desk — and as the deadline draws nearer, the buildup for big-ticket and contentious proposals is getting more intense.  The direct impact of […]

Building an "endemic" economy means creating consistent policies for the long haul, not enacting arbitrary, short-term mandates.

The numbers are irrefutable: Many Californians aren’t going back to work. Although the Golden State created a whopping 44% of the nation’s new jobs last month, its unemployment rate remained the second-highest in the country at 7.5%, according to figures released Friday by the state Employment Development Department. That’s essentially unchanged from the 7.6% unemployment […]

Ironically, as Californians celebrate Labor Day weekend, millions will see their unemployment benefits reduced or cut off altogether. That’s because the federal government on Saturday is ending four key programs intended to help keep people afloat amid the pandemic — a shift that will cause about 2.2 million of the 3 million Californians currently receiving […]

Is California (a) leading the nation in job creation (b) home to the country's second-highest unemployment rate or (c) all of the above?

With a record state budget surplus and $27 billion in additional federal stimulus dollars, the Legislature and governor should commit to paying down the $22 billion unemployment insurance debt.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom claims that California's economy is "roaring back" as the COVID-19 pandemic fades, but the data indicate a much-slower recovery.

The state of California is paying itself $500,000 for administering Gov. Gavin Newsom’s vaccine lottery. The news, which I first reported Thursday, comes about a week after Newsom wrapped up a whirlwind series of events in which he gave away millions of dollars and other prizes to encourage Californians to get the COVID-19 vaccine. It’s […]

How you interpret California’s latest unemployment numbers may have a lot to do with whether you’re a glass half-full or glass half-empty kind of person. If you’re the former, Friday’s report from the Employment Development Department is cause to celebrate: It shows that California’s unemployment rate dropped to 7.9% in May, down from April’s revised […]