Written by: William Hekman
While the Golden State may have created 44% of the nation’s new jobs last month, the state still has the second-highest unemployment rate in the country at 7.5%. The unemployment rate had only changed from 7.7% recorded back in May, a month before the state reopened fully. Governor Newsom said about the unemployment numbers, “We still have more work to do in regaining those jobs lost to the pandemic, but this is promising progress for California’s economic recovery.”
Around half of the 104,300 payroll jobs that were indeed in August were government positions, with many being in education as public schools return to in-person learning and an increase in the need for both full-time teachers and substitutes. The Santa Ana Unified School District is hiring so many people that its human resources department has not processed the payments for new hires, leaving almost 100 new employees to go without pay for over a month.
It was originally predicted that the federal government’s September 4th cutoff of unemployment benefits would spur Californians to return to work. But that, unfortunately, has not been the case. About 55,000 Californians filed new jobless claims, and about 6,000 jobs in education and health services were lost in August, adding to a nurse shortage that has been devastating to the state’s health care sector. The food industry is also taking a big hit. One example is Sacramento sushi chain Mikuni, which only saw three applicants even after expanding benefits. Eight of its nine locations will close on Monday due to staffing shortages.
It is rather apparent that Californians are not returning, yet this seems to be on the backburner of Newsom’s agenda. While he is quick to sign legislation aiding illegal immigrants, Newsom continues to turn his back to the citizens of California who are looking for employment.
Photo from: Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group
