San Diego’s unemployment rate is at its highest since 2021
Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25TH>>>> LOCAL UNEMPLOYMENT IS AT ITS HIGHEST IN OVER FOUR YEARS…]More on that next. But first... the headlines…
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CALIFORNIA SENATOR ALEX PADILLA WAS IN SAN DIEGO YESTERDAY (WEDNESDAY) OBSERVING IMMIGRATION COURT PROCEEDINGS AT THE FEDERAL COURTHOUSE.
THE VISIT CAME AS IMMIGRATION COURTS ARE STRAINED BY THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S MASS DEPORTATION EFFORT.
PADILLA SAYS THAT STRAIN HURTS THE DUE-PROCESS RIGHTS OF IMMIGRANTS.
THAT’S COMPOUNDED BY LONG CASE BACKLOGS AND A SHORTAGE OF IMMIGRATION JUDGES.
THE ADMINISTRATION HAS TAPPED HUNDREDS OF JUDGE ADVOCATES GENERAL, WHICH ARE MILITARY LAWYERS, AS TEMPORARY FILL-INS. THAT MOVE RAISES A WHOLE NEW SET OF CONCERNS BECAUSE MILITARY LAWYERS DON’T NORMALLY HANDLE IMMIGRATION CASES.
"The idea of redirecting, jag's attorneys from the Department of Defense to do immigration work is not going to improve things. These are judges that may have a legal background, but not when it comes to immigration. We need more immigration judges to do the work of immigration judges.”
PADILLA ALSO CRITICIZED THE ADMINISTRATION’S FIRING OF IMMIGRATION JUDGES. NPR REPORTS THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS FIRED MORE THAN 80 IMMIGRATION JUDGES THIS YEAR
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AUTHORITIES ARE SEEKING THE PUBLIC’S HELP IN IDENTIFYING A SUSPECT INVOLVED IN A SERIES OF HATE CRIMES
THE CULPRIT HAS GRAFFITTI’D SLURS TARGETING SPECIFIC RELIGIONS AND TAGGED SEVERAL LOCATIONS SPANNING BACK TO DECEMBER
THAT INCLUDES CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS SHRINES OF DIFFERENT DENOMINATIONS IN BANKERS HILL, GOLDEN HILL, HILLCREST AND NORTH PARK
SAN DIEGO POLICE SAY THE SUSPECT ALWAYS ARRIVES ON FOOT DURING THE EARLY-MORNING HOURS, USES BLACK SPRAY PAINT AND LEAVES ON FOOT
POLICE HAVE CAPTURED VIDEO FOOTAGE OF THE SUSPECT. IT CAN BE VIEWED ON THE SAN DIEGO CRIMESTOPPERS YOUTUBE PAGE.
AUTHORITIES URGE ANYONE WITH INFORMATION TO CONTACT S-D-P-D’S CRIMINAL INTELLIGENCE UNIT
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NASA RECENTLY INTRODUCED TEN ASTRONAUT CANDIDATES
AMONG THE TEN IS SAN DIEGO NATIVE KATHERINE SPIES! (SPEES)
SHE WAS THE DIRECTOR OF FLIGHT TEST ENGINEERING AT GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE CORP.
AND HAS ALSO SERVED AS A MARINE CORPS AH-1 COBRA ATTACK HELICOPTER PILOT
THIS IS THE AGENCY’S 24TH ASTRONAUT CLASS. THE GROUP IS CURRENTLY TRAINING AT THE NASA JOHNSON SPACE CENTER.
THEY ARE PREPARING FOR OPERATIONS ABOARD THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION AND ARTEMIS MISSIONS TO THE MOON
THEIR TRAINING INCLUDES ROBOTICS, LAND AND WATER SURVIVAL, GEOLOGY, FOREIGN LANGUAGE, SPACE MEDICINE AND PHYSIOLOGY
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
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NEW DATA FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SHOW SAN DIEGO’S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS JUST OVER 5 PERCENT …THAT’S THE HIGHEST IT’S BEEN SINCE 20-21.
LOCAL ECONOMIST DANIEL ENEMARK [eh-neh-mark] JOINED MIDDAY EDITION TO DISCUSS A RANGE OF ECONOMIC (EKANOMIC) ISSUES WITH HOST JADE HINDMON.
ENEMARK 1 (midday) TRT: (4:31) SOQ …“predict how long.”
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“So you say one of the big economic stories for 2025 is unemployment. Uh you know, people are searching for jobs, there just aren't enough to go around. So, what's the general reason for why that is and what's the current situation here in our region? Great questions. Um anytime we're looking at a big aggregate thing like unemployment, there's tons of contributing factors.
[00:57]
And so it's hard to narrow it down to say well, you know know, it's because of this or that one thing that unemployment's going up and these things are cyclical. Um, but as a general rule, I would say, uh, when the current administration came in, they proposed a number of policies that were not great for employment. Um, so we saw, for example, um, you know, tariffs, right?
And so with with the implementation of tariffs, you see that it's just harder to make make things that are affordable for your customers, right? So a lot of business is closing, that kind of thing. Um there's a there's a number of factors that are involved in and and also the other thing is that the economy has not been quite as strong as we thought it was.
Um and so, you know, a lot of people talking about vibe session, the the Economist Katherine Edwards has used the term ghost recession. You know, uh the economy was not as good as some of the numbers suggested. And so, some of those intuitions of this economy sucks uh might have been right Right, you know. Wow. Well you know despite the challenges in the labor market the stock market though remains strong what does that tell us about the larger economy? Well for one thing when we say the stock market remains strong really what we mean is that there's about 10 companies that are doing really well with the the advent of AI and and with strength of of the tech sector.
[05:06]
You know, we have 10 companies that are basically driving a continued increase in the S&P 500. Now, that doesn't mean that all companies are doing great. It doesn't mean that the whole stock market is doing great. It just means that some of the top performers are performing very well.
[05:49]
Um, you know, another question here is, you know, this week the Trump administration also announced a $100,000 annual fee for H1-B visa applications. Can you explain what that what that is, the H1-B visa? And how that could change our economy here in San Diego?
[06:10]
Yeah, so if you want to bring bring in somebody who's really talented, who is not a US citizen and you want to have them come in and or even a permanent resident. You want to have them come in and work with your company um to do something that you might struggle to find people locally who could do. Uh, you get them in H1-B visa. And um it's a really great program.
[06:35]
The United States benefits in a way that no other country in the history of the world has benefited. from. Which is that we are a place that people all over the world want to be. The best and the brightest around the world want to come here for our top-tier, you know, higher education opportunities, for our world's largest economy.
By increasing the cost of the H1-B visa, we're discouraging companies from being able to bring in those best and brightest um from around the world. And and I think that's uh that's too bad.
[08:11]
Are are there specific industries in San Diego that might be hit hardest by this? I would say certainly biotech is one of our leading really highly technical industries or sectors. Um, and and certainly we have a lot of foreign-born workers in that in that field. So that that could be one of the highest hit.
[09:08]
And quickly uh Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by a quarter point, will that move the needle here on our high unemployment and also high inflation at all? Well, you know, the the phrase that they use is long and variable lags, meaning the time that it takes for monetary policy to work its way through the economy and encourage more you know employment and all that, it takes a long time and it takes a variable amount of time. So, it's very difficult to predict how long it'll take for that change. Now, it's also a small change.
[09:38]
We expect a couple more changes, more decreases uh in in in this year and the next. Um, so, you know, that's a it's a good thing, but it will at least for unemployment. Um, but it will take time to work its way through the economy and it's very difficult to predict how long.
TAG: THAT WAS ECONOMIST DANIEL ENEMARK SPEAKING WITH MIDDAY EDITION HOST JADE HINDMON
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NEXT WEEK, THE SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL WILL VOTE ON WATER RATE INCREASES. IN OUR WHY IT MATTERS SEGMENT, VOICE OF SAN DIEGO CEO SCOTT LEWIS SAYS WHAT WILL HAPPEN IS UNCLEAR.
VOSDLAFCO 1 (public matters) TRT 1:12 last words “why it matters”
The vote would be to raise the typical single family home water bill by about 18 dollars per month. Then they’d go up again each of the next three years by about the same amount. That’s a 63 percent hike over the next four years.
But San Diego City Council president Joe LaCava is now worried they may not have the votes to do it.
“the number of us on the council that are willing to say, this looks bad. I'm gonna regret this vote, but I voted for it at the budget time and I've gotta stick with it. And that number is getting smaller and smaller. And so as the council president, I'm beginning a little concerned about how do we actually deliver all that new revenue that we built into the budget”
That would be wild because the city and the County water authority already essentially bought what they are raising rates to pay for
Water rates are going up because of the massive investments the county water authority and the city are making. They bought water from farmers in Imperial Valley. They built a seawater desalination plant in Carlsbad and now they’re building a major wastewater recycling system.
Those deals are done. If the City Council balks at paying for them, we’ll enter uncharted territory. It would also raise questions about whether the County Water Authority took on too much debt.
The big question is what happens next week with water rates in San Diego. It’ll matter for your family’s budget and for San Diego’s future.
I’m Scott Lewis for Voice of San Diego and that’s why it matters.
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A NEW EXHIBITION IS OPENING AT THE SAN DIEGO HISTORY CENTER. METRO REPORTER ANDREW BOWEN SAYS IT INVITES VISITORS TO EXPLORE SAN DIEGO NEIGHBORHOODS THAT HAVE BEEN LOST TO HISTORY.
LOST 1 (ab) 1:17 soq
GF: So the Gaslamp Quarter — very different now, but at one time was this really bustling African American area.
AB: Gaidi Finnie is executive director of the San Diego African American Museum of Fine Art, which co-produced the exhibition titled San Diego's Lost Neighborhoods. It started with his research into the Douglas Hotel, once known as the Harlem of the West.
GF: Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, those kind of folks, Cab Calloway, sang in these places.
AB: Finnie says as the Gaslamp Quarter gentrified, San Diego's Black population shifted toward the southeast. There, they faced more threats of displacement from freeways like the 805 and 94 — and highway 252, which would have torn through the neighborhood of Southcrest but was stopped by a popular uprising. The exhibition includes photos, newspaper clippings, TV news reels and an app that shows even more with augmented reality. Finnie says while these neighborhoods were lost, they tell a story of resilience.
GF: So it's important to know those kinds of things from your past and to know that you can fight also. You can fight for some of these things in order to keep your community together.
AB: San Diego's Lost Neighborhoods is open today at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.
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ON SATURDAY, DOZENS OF ARTISTS WILL SHOWCASE THEIR WORK AT THE THIRD ANNUAL CHULA VISTA ART FESTIVAL.
ARTS REPORTER AUDY MCAFEE (AW-dee MACK-uh-fee) SAYS THE CITY’S ARTS COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO GROW .
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CVARTFEST 1 (:51) SOQ
Melissa Salgado, who goes by the artist name “Melicha” is a 28 year old Chula Vista native and local artist. She’s been drawn to painting since childhood and is participating in the Chula Vista Art Festival with her first art residency.
“ Just knowing that someone gets to see my work is like extremely valuable. Like that's, I think most artists just, um, really appreciate that sort of visibility.”
Chula Vista has a long history of creativity but organizers say there wasn’t a specific place to celebrate local artists until the inaugural festival in 2023. Melicha says she hopes the event will continue to have a positive impact on the community.
“Hopefully that opens like more spots where people can be more creative. So I think it's like a huge benefit for the city.”
You can see Melicha’s work along with many others on Saturday in front of the Chula Vista City Hall from noon to six PM. Audy McAfee, KPBS news.
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That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Lawrence K. Jackson. Thanks for listening and subscribing by doing so you are supporting public media and I thank you for that. Have a great day!
