CA ‘Jobs Gap’ Jumps to Record High
AUG. 29, 2011
By JOHN SEILER
California’s “Jobs Gap” with the rest of America jumped to a record high, according to new calculations. In 2010, I devised the “Jobs Gap” to measure how much worse unemployment is in California that the rest of America.
The Jobs Gap is calculated by subtracting the national unemployment level from California’s. Of course, the major factor affecting California’s economy is national economic policy. What the Jobs Gap calculation does is filter out the “noise” of the performance of the national economy. What’s left is the effect of California policy on state jobs.
Below is the latest yearly chart. (The 2011 number is an average through July.)
Notice the green line at the bottom. That’s the “Jobs Gap” number. It shows that, as recently as 2006, the Jobs Gap was small — just 0.3 percentage points above the national average.
For the complete article & graphics see: http://www.calwatchdog.com/2011/08/29/california-jobs-gap-jumps-to-record-high/
