California records more job losses in September

California lost jobs for the fourth consecutive month in September — and it's expected to add only 62,000 new jobs next year as high taxes drag on business formation, according to a report released Thursday.

- BY LAURENCE DARMIENTO

DOZENS of grocery workers picket outside El Super last month, demanding a new contract and higher wages.

(ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times)

The annual Chapman University economic forecast released Thursday found that the state’s job growth totaled just 2% from the second quarter of 2022 to the second quarter of this year, ranking it 48th among all states.

That matches California’s low ranking on the Tax Foundation’s 2024 State Business Tax Climate Index, which measures the rate of taxes and how they are assessed, according to the Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research report by the Orange, Calif., school.

The state also experienced a net population outflow of more than 1 million residents from 2021 to 2023, with the top five destinations being states with zero or very low state income taxes: Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho and Florida, the report noted.