Thursday’s jobs report suggests the US economy is much stronger than expected — but California lags behind the rest of the nation.
Delayed over six weeks by the government shutdown, the report showed that the US economy created 119,000 jobs in September.
That blew away economists’ consensus prediction of just 50,000, since summer months usually see slow job growth.
Sure seems a sign “the Trump economic policies are actually working,” as Vice President JD Vance put it.
Not so, the progressive economic policies of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s California.
The Golden State has had the nation’s highest unemployment rate for several months running. And, as The Post pointed out, Cali also leads the nation in inflation, with prices rising a whopping 4.0% in San Diego.
Nor is Newsom’s California joining in the jobs boom. Per to the latest data (from August), the state’s year-on-year employment growth is just 0.39% — far behind the national average of 0.91%.
Several Cali metro areas also suffered annual job losses — including San Francisco, despite its supposed AI-driven revival.
The nonpartisan state Legislative Analyst’s Office said this week: “California businesses have pared back hiring, resulting in no payroll job growth in the state so far this year.”
And a Public Policy Institute of California survey found that more than eight in ten adults call the lack of well-paying jobs a “big problem” (28%) or “somewhat of a problem” (58%).
That’s no surprise to anyone who has walked past the abandoned shops along the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, or the deserted department stores of San Francisco’s Union Square.
Any employer in California can tell you why it’s almost impossible to create jobs in the state.
Rouben Gregorian of El Segundo-based Charter Space, a venture-backed space fintech company, says that while tech companies still launch in California, many leave as soon as they grow beyond the startup phase.
“The problems are high taxes, heavy regulations, and the sheer cost of real estate,” he says, noting that other states have a far more welcoming approach toward growing companies.
These problems didn’t start with Newsom.
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Gov. Jerry Brown before him also watched companies leave, dismissing the exodus: “Smart people figure out how to make it.”
Newsom has inherited that condescending attitude: He boasts that California has the world’s fourth-largest economy — without noting that it also has the highest poverty and inequality in the nation.
California still attracts people with talent, ambition and ideas, but it won’t create jobs unless it can hold on to growing companies.
State finances are also suffering, facing a deficit of $18 million — the fourth straight year in the red.
Instead of jetting off to climate change confabs in Brazil, maybe Newsom should focus on changing the climate for jobs at home.