California unemployment up; fiscal emergency declared
According to the Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today, California lost 41,700 nonfarm payroll jobs in November 2008, third after Florida (58,600) and North Carolina (46,000). In terms of overall jobless rates, California and South Carolina tied for third at 8.4% unemployment, trailing Michigan (9.6%) and Rhode Island (9.3%). The California rate was UP from 8.2% in October.
Oregon recorded the largest over-the-month unemployment rate increase in November at +0.9 percentage point. In terms of regional unemployment, the West and Midwest regions led the U.S. at 7.3% and 6.9%, respectively. You can read the details for your state (for those of you in the U.S.) in the government report.
Meanwhile, in Sacramento, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger formally declared a fiscal emergency today and ordered lawmakers back to the Capitol for a third special session in two months. The California General Assembly needs to close a $42 billion (USD) budget deficit (not bad for a STATE, huh? 
). The executive order for the special session came one day after the Governor said that he would veto an $18 billion Democratic deficit-cutting package that did not contain an economic recovery plan. Some in the General Assembly voiced the opinion that the package was illegal because the package raised some taxes without the required 2/3 majority, while lowering other taxes by an equal amount.
Governor Schwarzenegger said, at a news conference in Fresno, “”As we free fall into a fiscal Armageddon, the Legislature still can’t cross the special interests and do what’s right for the state of California. The only thing they did really well was to increase taxes.” Former Democratic leader, Don Perata (who is now out of state government as the result of term limits) pointed to an absence of “negotiators” in the General Assembly, with both Democrats and Republicans entrenched in their positions and unwilling to move.
Although some news programs point to new state legislators with almost no experience as a liability in the discussions, I think that they are, instead, a opportunity for hope and a step in the right direction, assuming that SOME of them have different personality types from the deeply entrenched incumbents. With a little bit of luck, the newcomers will pick up the mechanics of government without picking up the political extremism of their surroundings.
After all, with a huge deficit and California’s unemployment at 8.4%, the future holds a lot of people who will need more help and be able to contribute less to the state.
Let’s get moving, General Assembly. California state government “as usual” just isn’t going to “cut it” anymore.
-Bill at Cheshire Cat Photo™
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