(The Center Square)\u00a0\u2013 Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom bragging about California being the world\u2019s fourth-largest economy, the Golden State isn’t striking gold for jobs.<\/p>\n
California continues to have the highest unemployment rate of any state and is among a handful of states with rates at 5% or higher, according to a review of statistics across the U.S. by The Center Square.<\/p>\n
The national rate in August was 4.3%, up 0.1% from July, according to a new U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/strong><\/a> report.\u00a0<\/p>\n Overall, 35 states ended August with rates below the national number and 13 states and the District of Columbia had rates higher than the national figure, according to Congress’\u00a0Joint Economic Committee\u2019s<\/strong><\/a> monthly report. The panel got its numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n California\u2019s rate for August was 5.5%, unchanged from July, the bureau reported. Nevada<\/strong><\/a> is the state with the second-highest rate at 5.3%, down 0.1% from July.<\/p>\n D.C., meanwhile, has a higher jobless rate, at 6%.<\/p>\n Back in the West, states saw their unemployment rates remain the same or drop or rise slightly. August rates included 3.3% for Utah, 4.1% for both Arizona<\/strong><\/a> and New Mexico, 4.5% for Washington state, 5% for Oregon and 4.2% for Colorado<\/strong><\/a>, according to the Joint Economic Committee and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n Reasons for California\u2019s poor jobs performance vary from the state\u2019s high cost of living to minimum-wage laws, governmental regulations and slow growth in creating new positions, Dr. Wayne Winegarden of the Pacific Research Institute told The Center Square Tuesday. PRI is a California think tank.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s too costly for companies to hire people here,\u201d said Winegarden, a senior fellow in business and economics and director of PRI\u2019s Center for Medical Economics and Innovation.<\/p>\n California companies understand workers don\u2019t want to deal with the state\u2019s high costs for things such as housing, so firms let employees work remotely from home in other states, Winegarden said.<\/p>\n