Daily Headlines May 3, 2024

We scan major news sources* and compile selected articles to keep you up-to-date on current issues affecting California business – the economy, health care, environment, transportation and more. Receive Daily Headlines by Email

Today’s Top Story

California Honors Small Businesses This May
May is Small Business Month, a time to recognize the tremendous contributions of our small businesses.

Top California News

• Fast Food Operators Rushing to Use AI in the Wake of Minimum Wage Hikes
  …But what has Ghai most hopeful about offsetting the higher labor costs is to have AI handle customers’ orders made at the drive-through. He’s testing the machine-learning system this month at a few locations and hopes to roll it out company-wide by this time next year. Los Angeles Times (Subscription required)

• Winterlike Storm to Drench California, Help Delay Summer Fire Risk
  A strong and cold storm — by May standards — is set to swing through the West Coast this weekend, bringing mountain snow and soaking rains to parts of California and the Pacific Northwest. The storm, which is arriving on the cusp of the summer dry season, will also spread fierce winds across the interior West. The Washington Post (Subscription required)

Top National, International News

• US Employers Scaled Back Hiring in April. How That Could Let the Fed Cut Interest Rates
  The nation’s employers pulled back on their hiring in April but still added a decent 175,000 jobs in a sign that persistently high interest rates may be starting to slow the robust U.S. job market. The Associated Press (No subscription required)

• The Era of ‘No-Show’ Fees Is Here—and It’s Going to Cost You
  …Once the domain of doctors’ offices and the occasional restaurant or hotel, fees for flaking on appointments are spreading to salons, personal trainers and beyond. More beauty professionals charge cancellation fees, reaching 16% on Square’s payment platform last year, up from 5% in 2021. The Wall Street Journal (Subscription required)

• Why ‘Nontraditional’ Benefits Are on the Rise and How HR Can Make Them Work
  With engagement on the downswing even as the end of 2024’s first half nears, nontraditional employee benefits emerged as an area of opportunity for employers, HR Dive’s 2024 Identity of HR survey found. The most popular of these options, remote and hybrid work programs, were cited by more than half of the 490 respondents as part of their talent strategies last year. HRDive (No subscription required)

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