The good news is California’s economy is recovering. It might not seem like it, but, California is adding jobs faster than any other state in the nation. The current unemployment rate is 9.8 percent. Although there was no change from November to December 2012, the unemployment rate has steadily gone down.
Three industry sectors posted big job gains: construction, information and education and health industries.
Despite these gains, more than 1.8 million people are still out of work yet, according to Simplyhired.com, there are about 639,000 open jobs.
The problem is the “skills gap” in the state. Folks, who are out of work, do not match the skills of the jobs that are open now.
It’s a growing concern with many in the education and business communities who say focusing on workforce development should be priority number one in order to close in on the skills gap.
One northern California school district is doing just that by focusing on early childhood education.
California Forward first reported on the San Rafael School City Schools district, the first in the nation to be picked by renowned educator, Dr. Jerry Weast, for an educational makeover, in October.
More than a year ago, educators in the district went through a paradigm shift. The success is hard to measure now, but the belief is through this shift in thinking, more students will go to college, they’ll graduate and become big contributors to the state’s economy.
California Forward’s Cheryl Getuiza reports on the districts progress.
