Kings & Tulare labor force and jobs climb
The number of workers that have re-joined the labor force in Kings and Tulare counties has climbed this year along with the number of jobs with the easing of the pandemic.
In Kings County the labor force now numbers 56,600, up 1300 from March 2021.The jobless rate over that time has dropped to 7.5% this March compared to 11.7% in March 2021. The number of people out of work has gone from 6500 in March 2021 to just 4300. Despite the drought, farm jobs are actually up by 8.5% from a year earlier. Non-farm jobs are up by 2000 or 5.4%.
In Tulare County the labor force climbed 5300 year over year. Jobs are up by 15,000 including 2000 more warehouse jobs with big logistic firms that have landed in Visalia. The number of jobless has declined 8000 year over year. Meanwhile, farm jobs are 1000 higher than a year ago
Welcome April rain
April showers in the second half of the month are boosting water supply, snowpack and spirits. Snow Lab reports Sierra snowpack is up to 31% of average to date from 22% a week ago after a series of welcome storms. Central Sierra (34% vs 26%) snow water equivalent up to 9.7” from 7.5”.Widespread precipitation for the Central Valley is forecasted by NWS-Hanford on Thursday into Friday. Precipitation is expected to begin around Yosemite NP early Thursday morning and gradually spread south through the day. Forecast rainfall amounts range from one quarter of an inch along the west side and south end of the San Joaquin Valley to three quarters of an inch along the east side of the valley north of Kern County. Rain amounts in the Sierra foothills are expected to be from three quarters of an inch to one and one half of an inch. Lodgepole in the Sierra could get 12 inches of snow.
Inland Port plan could bring added trade to Central Valley
Visalia has joined efforts to build an “Inland Port” in the Valley – perhaps up to three in the center of the state. Fresno has a leg up on the competition for a site with access to both freight rail giants,UP and BNSF. But Visalia is now a key logistics center adjacent to the main UP line.
Supported by the state, the plan is to develop a new, inter-modal rail spine to connect seaports to key markets via the Central Valley. This California “Inland Port” system would cut greenhouse gases, significantly improve air quality, reduce road congestion, boost traffic safety, and advance California’s extraordinarily large intra-state freight movement system.
The objectives of the California Inland Port are:
•Support new job creation and investment growth by fundamentally repositioning the economic competitiveness of the San Joaquin Valley region.
•Create a more robust and efficient distribution system with a specific focus on high-value manufacturing, e-commerce, and the agriculture sectors.
•Reducing shipping costs for shippers that manage global supply chains through direct intermodal rail service to/from the San Pedro seaports.
•Significantly reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the number of truck trips from the seaports complex in the Los Angeles region to the Central Valley and the Bay Area.
•Reduce highway road congestion, with a parallel reduction in the requirement for road maintenance; accident-avoidance savings; all of this reducing cost.
Tale of two counties – Sales of homes in San Luis Obispo County plunged 34% in March from a year earlier on rising interest rates and price fatigue while the median price climbed to $903,000, up 15.6% from $737,500 in March 2021.
In next door Kings County sales declined 10% from a year earlier as the median dropped modestly from February to $325,000 from $327,000 but well above March 2021 when it was $292,500. Still sales year over year were up in Fresno and Tulare counties in March.
Grimmius West is planning to expand its calf operation according to a permit being processed by the county.The Kings county operation would go from 10,319 head to 25,000 head- switching to only Holstein calves.The site location is 26020 Omaha Avenue near Kettleman City.
California dairymen are watching corn futures rise on continued anxiety about Ukraine and White House plans to waive ethanol restrictions this summer. West Coast dairy operators depend on Midwest corn for their feed shipped in by rail. Corn is at a 9-year high over $8 a bushel.The planting season has been delayed by cold weather in four of the five top corn states, a stark contrast to last year’s early start, said the Agriculture Department on Monday
Dems/GOP split on bullet train
Construction of high speed rail continues in Kings County this spring but the people of the county and state are as divided as ever over the costly project.
Fourteen years after California voters approved funding to begin building a statewide high-speed rail system, a clear majority of registered voters—and more than 70% of Democrats—still support the project, according to a new survey by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies and the Los Angeles Times.
The poll found that 56% of registered voters “support the state continuing to build the high-speed rail project, even if, as is currently planned, its operations only extend from Bakersfield to Merced in the Central Valley by the year 2030 and to the Bay Area by the year 2033.”
Thirty-five percent of voters said they are opposed.
By a margin of 73% to 18% Democrats support the project, with 54% of independent voters in support and 37% opposed. Registered Republicans oppose the project—66% to 25%
Goodwill Hanford Superstore grand opening & ribbon cutting at 700 N. 11th Ave. is set for April 22 at 9:30AM.
Lemoore’s Veterans Park is the venue with a special treat on the menu when the annual Pizza Festival, a three-day local event returns on April 22, 23, and 24. The event features games, food, and music. The last Pizza Festival, before the pandemic, was held in 2019.
Hanford Transit Center planned at 7th and Harris in Downtown is ready to go.” We’re shovel ready” says KCAG Director Terri King, scouting for $20 million to launch construction late this year. Besides state funding, King says she is working with Congressman Valadao on possible federal funds for the project.