California’s Economy Pinched by Unemployment - The New York Times

Tech layoffs, fallout from Hollywood strikes and an uptick in rural joblessness challenge a state with one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates. By Kurtis Lee Reporting from Los Angeles For decades, California’s behemoth economy has outpaced those of most nations, holding an outsize role in shaping global trends in tech, entertainment and agriculture. While that reputation remains, the state has a less enviable distinction: one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates. Nationwide, the rate is 3.7 percent, and in January, the country added 353,000 jobs. California’s job growth has been slower than the nationwide average over the last year, and the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high — 5.1 percent in the latest data, a percentage point higher than a year earlier and outpaced only by Nevada’s 5.4 percent. With layoffs in the tech-centered Bay Area, a slow rebound in Southern California from prolonged strikes in the entertainment industry and varying demand for agricultural w

Tech layoffs, fallout from Hollywood strikes and an uptick in rural joblessness challenge a state with one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates. By Kurtis Lee Reporting from Los Angeles For decades, California’s behemoth economy has outpaced those of most nations, holding an outsize role in shaping global trends in tech, entertainment and agriculture. While that reputation remains, the state has a less enviable distinction: one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates. Nationwide, the rate is 3.7 percent, and in January, the country added 353,000 jobs. California’s job growth has been