California Economy

California's Unemployment Crisis According to statistics compiled by the U.S. government and mined by BridgePath (http://www.bridgepath.com), California has a far higher unemployment rate than most of the country (see chart). While areas like the Silicon Valley continue to flourish, much of the nation's most populous state still remains in recession. In fact, only four other states have a higher unemployment rate for 1997 than California (two of them being Hawaii and Alaska …

…areas have grown up around world class universities that help spur innovation. But California's situation is not unique. All around the nation, two economies are springing up -- the educated and the non-educated workforce. In today's economy, even the lowest paying jobs require computer skills, a high degree of education, and training. Though the split is most evident in California because of its size, it is occurring in every state from Vermont to New Mexico.