This story was reported for San Diego News Network on September 8, 2009.
Fires continue to blaze, as thousands of Californians remain jobless and the state government gears up for IOU recipients.
LA wildfires: The Station Fire in Los Angeles has now burned roughly 157,220 acres and is about 56 percent contained, according to county authorities.
It has become the 10th largest wildfire in California since 1932 and has burned areas within the Angeles National Forest and nearby communities. Approximately 5,000 homes and 2,000 buildings are currently endangered and more than 4,000 fire personnel have been released to contain the fire.
It was reported last week that California has spent nearly $106.5 million of the $182 million wildfire fund.
Californians in the workforce: Nearly one of five working-age adults is “underutilized” in California, according to a new study.
The California Budget Project, a nonprofit organization focused on the state’s fiscal issues, released a new report showing one-fifth of Californians are either unemployed or working part-time jobs when they want full-time positions.
Other key findings from its report include:
– “More than one out of four unemployed Californians (28.2 percent) had been jobless for more than six months in July 2009 – the highest level ever recorded. Nearly half (47.9 percent) of the state’s unemployed had been jobless for at least 15 weeks.
– “The monthly number of jobless Californians ?ling initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) bene?ts increased by approximately 152,000 (81.9 percent) between June 2007 and June 2009. Yet only half of California’s unemployed (50.6 percent) received UI bene?ts in the ?rst quarter of 2009 because of restrictive eligibility rules. California has a lower UI recipiency rate than 37 other states.
– “In March 2009, California enacted legislation enabling the state’s jobless to take advantage of extended UI bene?ts available through the federal economic recovery act. However, nearly 178,000 Californians are expected to exhaust these bene?ts by the end of 2009.
– “The number of underemployed Californians more than doubled in two years. Approximately 1.4 million Californians were underemployed in July 2009, meaning that they were working part-time “involuntarily” either because their employers reduced their hours of work or because they could not find full-time jobs.
– “Two years of job losses erased four years of job gains. California lost 952,800 nonfarm jobs between July 2007 and July 2009 – far more than the 846,600 jobs the state added during the growth years between July 2003 and July 2007.
– “California has approximately the same number of jobs as it did nine years ago. The recession has been so severe that the number of nonfarm jobs in July 2009 was approximately the same as in January 2000, when the state was home to 3.3 million fewer working-age individuals.”
IOU consequences: California taxpayers will pay nearly $10 million in interest on the nearly half a million IOUs the state has issued this summer.
The controller’s office reported that it issued its final IOU on Thursday – to cover a $41.60 bill from Yellow Cab of Sacramento.
California ran short of cash this summer amid a budget deficit and was forced to hand out the warrants to vendors and contractors. The IOUs initially were to be redeemed beginning Oct. 2, but the controller’s office determined the state could begin paying them one month sooner.
Friday marks the first day the state will begin redeeming them. Since July 2, California has issued 449,241 IOUs worth more than $2.6 billion.
If every one is cashed, the total interest paid by the state will be more than $9.6 million.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Hoa Quach is the political editor for the San Diego News Network.