MSN reports California has America’s highest unemployment rate but misses the real story . . .

Photo above – On the same day California's crippling unemployment rate was disclosed, Gavin Newsom flipped the script and announced his candidacy for the White House: “CALIFORNIA WILL DRAW NEW, MORE BEAUTIFUL MAPS, AND THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY”

The link from MSN (below) starts out innocently enough: California now has 5.5% unemployment. Up 0.1% from the prior month. Highest in the nation, which averages 4.2%. Yawn, but okay, I’m in. . . let’s find out why. Unfortunately, the reporters buried the Lede.

MSN frets that California only added 15,000 new jobs last month. And tiptoes past the stats showing that there were actually 23,000 new government jobs, including healthcare and education. So without government hiring, it would have been a job loss. Yes, that is more to the point, and quite alarming.

If you were expecting Trump’s tariffs to be blamed for California’s misfortunes, you won’t be disappointed. The writer (Jake Beardslee) works for “The Muck Rack”. Don’t ask what that is . . . well okay, there’s a link to this site at the bottom too. 90% of Mr. Beardslee’s articles on Muck Rack over the past year have featured titles which shout “Trump”, “Tariffs” or “Groceries”. Sometimes all 3 at once - hat trick!

Back to California’s unemployment. Manufacturing in the state declined 33,000 jobs . . . but wait, that’s a 12-month cumulative total, and much of that happened before Trump was inaugurated. To quote MSN, "automation and past over hiring are to blame”. New graduates cannot find good jobs. Unless it's as part of the new government drone workforce. THAT’s the real story. Automation is killing private sector jobs, and California’s government hiring is responsible for all the net job growth.

My sympathies are with the struggling people of California. Workers who are losing their jobs to fast food robots, AI large language models, and restaurant closures. But lots of people predicted this would happen when the minimum wage was hiked to $20 or more for most jobs. This happened just in time for the 2024 election. And it worked . . . voters delivered a supermajority of seats in the state senate to democrats. Governor Newsom is now hard at work setting up a special, off-year election, to redraw congressional districts so that his presidential aspirations will be enhanced. This SEEMS like it should be illegal, or at least a conflict of interest, but apparently in California tinkering with election districts for your own personal gain isn’t. How Trump-ian!

I believe that robots, AI, and more unemployment are inevitable no matter who wins federal and state elections. Tariffs aren't going to fix this, and there isn't enough money in the universe for the government to hire everyone's next of kin, friends, and neighbors. So, does it really matter who we vote for? We're probably toast, and our votes don't matter. And California’s recent jobs data shows why.

I’m just sayin’ . . .

Why California Has the Highest Unemployment Rate in the U.S.

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Articles by Jake Beardslee’s Profile | MSN (US) Journalist | Muck Rack