CA middle-class jobs shrinking

Life is good in California for the rich, who enjoy the most beautiful place on earth. And for the poor, who enjoy the country’s best welfare benefits.

Not so much for the middle class. The Times reported:

On the surface, California’s job market is booming.

The state has now recovered all the jobs lost during the recession, and done so at a faster pace than all but five states.

The growth, though, belies a troubling imbalance. The fastest job creation has come in low-wage sectors, in which pay has declined. At the high end of the salary scale, a different dynamic has taken hold: rising pay and improving employment after rounds of consolidation.

Most distressing, middle-wage workers are losing out on both counts.

“People talk about it like an hourglass,” said Tracey Grose, vice president of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. “There are fewer opportunities for people in the middle.”

On top of that, California is the most expensive place to live in America. The 9.3 percent income tax rate, supposedly only on the “rich,” digs in at about $55,000 of income, barely into the middle class here. Severe government regulations on housing construction, especially by the California Coastal Commission and the LAFCOs, causing housing to cost twice to four times what it does in other states.

“California is back,” the politicians insist. Yes, if you’re a Silicon Valley billionaire. If not, then not so much.