Hope for California

A quick look at some data and a debate concerning California's soft economy.

By George Gendron | 
 

We received a chart of the number of employees on nonfarm payrolls in California for 1993 and 1994. The chart shows a sharp decline from June-September 1993, then a trough, then an uptrend beginning in January 1994.] from Richard Devens of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, who was responding to a September item in which we suggested that Ken Hendricks of ABC Supply might be a better source of economic information than Devens's employer. "Aw, come on! Don't tell folks to 'forget economists and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.' We even agree with Mr. Hendricks half the time. And where we disagree, recent] data . . . suggest we might be right!" wrote Devens. Hendricks thinks the worst is yet to come in California; the Bureau of Labor Statistics thinks the worst has passed. We'll see who's right.

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