Daily Headlines December 20, 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

** Daily Headlines will be on winter break from December 23 through January 3, and will return on Monday, January 6, 2025.

Today’s Top Story

Free Jan. 17 Webinar to Give PAGA Reform Overview by State Agency
In partnership with the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) will be presenting an overview of the latest changes to the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) in a free webinar on January 17, 2025.

Top California News

• Avian Flu Has Hit Dairies So Hard That They’re Calling It ‘Covid for Cows’
  The virus has spread rapidly in California, the nation’s largest producer of milk. Farmers are frustrated that their herds are getting infected despite various precautions. The New York Times (Subscription required)

• How Far Northern California Counties Are Creating More Jobs for Young People
  …With a combined population of less than half a million people scattered across Del Norte, Siskiyou, Modoc, Humboldt, Trinity, Shasta and Lassen counties, the area faces relatively lower wages, extremist politics and brain drain, and fewer educational opportunities compared to other parts of the state. Most of the seven northernmost counties have seen decreasing or stagnant population trends in recent years, U.S. Census Bureau data show, along with the outmigration of working-age young people. CalMatters (No subscription required)

• Drought Deepens in the Southwest, Driven by Little Rain and Extreme Heat
  …A weak and short-lived La Niña is expected to develop over the next couple of months, and by some measures has already arrived. The climate pattern, which features cooler than normal water in the eastern tropical Pacific, can portend a dry winter for the Southwest. The Washington Post (Subscription required)

• California Nets Large Population Increase in 2024 — Nearly Returning to Pre-Pandemic Level
  California’s population grew by almost a quarter of a million residents this year, nearly bouncing back to the record-high population levels the Golden State had reached before the pandemic, though the state is growing more slowly than the country as a whole and other large states in the South, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday. The San Jose Mercury News (Subscription required)

Top National, International News

• U.S. Economy Grows at 3.1% Pace in Third Quarter, an Upgrade From Previous Estimate
  The American economy grew at a healthy 3.1% annual clip from July through September, propelled by vigorous consumer spending and an uptick in exports, the government said in an upgrade to its previous estimate. The Associated Press (No subscription required)

• Federal Reserve’s Preferred Inflation Gauge Shows Price Pressures Eased Last Month
  An inflation gauge that is closely watched by the Federal Reserve barely rose last month in a sign that price pressures cooled after two months of sharp gains. The Associated Press (No subscription required)

• It’s Beginning to Look Like Another Record for Holiday Travel
  Drivers and airline passengers without reindeer and sleighs better make a dash for it: it’s beginning to look like another record for holiday travel in the U.S. The auto club AAA predicts that more than 119 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between Saturday and New Year’s Day, which would top the previous holiday-season high set in 2019. The Associated Press (No subscription required)

* Some newspapers listed require the viewer to register, log in, or pay in order to view the entire article. After some time, most papers file older stories in their archive section. Access to those stories may require that you pay to view them.