California Economy and Taxes
 


California New Business Creation: December 2020 January 8, 2021

The pace of new business creation in California moderated in December, but remained ahead of 2019.


How California's Economy Evolved Over the Last Business Cycle January 7, 2021

California's job growth slightly exceeded the national average over the last cycle, and its information sector performed especially well.


Income Tax Withholding Tracker: December 1 - December 23 December 23, 2020

California income tax withholding in December to date is up 19 percent from 2019, and collections since March 23 are up 5 percent.


Home Prices Update: November 2020 December 22, 2020

California home prices continue to surge, and are now up an average of 9% over last November.


Home Sales Update: November 2020 December 22, 2020

California home sales were well above the 2019 level for the fifth straight month.


November 2020 Jobs Report December 18, 2020

California employers added 57,100 jobs in November, the smallest increase since the economy started to recover.


November 2020 State Tax Collections December 16, 2020

November revenue collections from the state’s three largest taxes were ahead of budget projections by $2.4 billion (33 percent).  


Card Spending Update: November 2020 December 16, 2020

Credit/debit card data suggest CA taxable sales continued to grow in November; spending now higher than January.


U.S. Retail Sales Update: November 2020 December 16, 2020

U.S. retail sales declined by 1% in November, but total sales Jan.-Nov. 2020 were slightly higher than Jan.-Nov. 2019. 


California New Business Creation: November 2020 December 10, 2020

New business creation remained well above historical norms in November, despite slowing a bit relative to recent months. 


2020-21 Fiscal Outlook: Recent Job Losses Concentrated Among Childless Workers, Dampening Caseload Growth December 8, 2020

In this post, we look at one unforeseen labor market shift that has important implications for the state’s fiscal picture: compared to past recessions, a larger share of workers who have lost jobs during the pandemic do not have children. 


COVID-19 and the Labor Market: Which Workers Have Been Hardest Hit by the Pandemic? December 8, 2020

The California labor market collapsed in late March and early April due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In response to COVID-19, state and local officials took steps to limit the spread of the disease. The Governor issued a statewide stay-at-home order on March 19. Since that time, public health officials have issued various directives limiting daily activities. These efforts, as well as health concerns, depressed economic activity across the state. As a result, many employers cut jobs. In this post, we take a closer look at how the pandemic has affected different industries and different types of workers in California.


COVID-19 and the Labor Market: Who Are California's Frontline and Remote Workers? December 8, 2020

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has upended the way many Californians work. As we described in the first post in this series, many workers have lost their jobs due to the pandemic and job losses have disproportionately affected women, younger workers, less educated workers, and Latino workers. Other workers have had to change the way they work, either by taking extra precautions in how they interact with customers and colleagues or by temporarily working from home instead of the office or job site. In this post, we take a closer look at this group: people whose jobs entail frequent person-to-person contact (frontline workers) and those who likely have been able to work from home (remote workers).


Building Permits Update: October 2020 December 7, 2020

California recorded about 8,000 housing permits in October, with single units accounting for more than 70 percent of the total.


Snapshot of the California Economy: October 2020 December 4, 2020

Economic data suggest the state’s economy showed promising improvement in October, but this one-month uptick should be viewed with some caution.