California has the highest unemployment rate of all states
by Raoul (2024-03-25 12:36:53)

In reply to: From the "Water is wet" department...  posted by Bacchus

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in the US as of February. At 5.3% it is even higher than non-state the District of Columbia.

I won't argue causation (maybe in 3-5 years we will have definitive studies on this), but I will note that among the 5 highest unemployment states + DC you have CA (5.3%), DC (5.2%) and WA (5.1%) have the highest unemployment rates and it has been pretty persistent that way. And then CA has been the most aggressive it seems with even higher city minimum wages and now industry specific minimum wages. I suspect minimum wage is one contributing factor CA's persistent high unemployment. But we are really only 5-6 years into the aggressive national push on minimum wages, so more to come.



Alternative work schedule, forcing employers to pay for
by airborneirish  (2024-03-25 14:59:52)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

COVID sick days above and beyond PTO, overtime kicking in days that employees work more than 8 hours, having to pay minimum 4 hours on days when employees are scheduled but offered voluntary time off, ridiculous unemployment rules, and now this minimum wage.

It’s stupid.

Washington's pattern precedes their recent minimum
by AquinasDomer  (2024-03-25 13:24:50)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

Wage hike.

"Historically, the unemployment rate in Washington has been higher than the U.S. average, due primarily to a relatively high share of resource-based industries in the state which have more volatile seasonal employment patterns."

Washington is tracking national unemployment more closely now than it has in prior decades.