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California Online
California's Economy
California's Economy
California's economy is as diverse
as its population. Since Spanish colonial days, agriculture
has been vital to the state. In addition, the rapid industrialization
during the 1900s has helped California to succeed nationally.
Today, California ranks first among the states in both agriculture
and manufacturing. It has a large workforce of about 19.7 million
people. Most Californians work in the services sector, performing
jobs such as computer programming or restaurant work.
California's farms are among the most productive in the world. A great variety of
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| Windmills,
Livermore, CA |
crops, especially fruits and vegetables, are grown in the state. In terms of money earned, milk and grapes are the state's leading farm products. California also has thriving industries. The state's assembly lines produce everything from jets and missiles to high-tech hardware and software. Southern California, with its year-round sunshine, variety of landscapes, and excellent technical facilities, is the center of the U.S. motion picture and television industries.
The California State Budget
The California Department of Finance is an agency of the state government. This office is responsible for preparing the state budget. The first step of budget writing is to review the requests from state agencies and institutions. Then the department analyzes the revenues that are expected to be collected by the government in the form of taxes and fees. The office then writes the budget. The budget is sent to the legislature for review and is debated between the executive and legislative branches.
The state budget is a very important document for the citizens of California. It determines how much money will be spent in various state agencies. A change in the budget might affect how much money is spent on a state park or education. In recent years state government expenses so greatly exceeded income that budget deficits, or shortages, reached record levels. In 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed a $112 billion state budget that did not raise taxes but included "tough" cuts in various programs to help address the $8.1 billion deficit.
California's Top Five Employers by Industry in 2000
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the top five leading employers in California were:
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|
(Number of people employed) |
| 1. |
Government and government enterprises |
2,665,198 |
| 2. |
Retail Trade |
2,030,125 |
| 3. |
Health Care |
1,642,265 |
| 4. |
Manufacturing |
1,640,545 |
| 5. |
Professional and technical services |
1,580,859 |
California's Top Five Leading Agricultural Crops in 2003
According to the California Agricultural Statistics Service, the top agricultural products sold in 2003 were:
| 1. |
Milk and cream: $4.03 million |
| 2. |
Nursery (plants, trees grown for sale): $2.44 million |
| 3. |
Grapes: $2.30 million |
| 4. |
Lettuce: $1.74 million |
| 5. |
Almonds: $1.56 million |
California ranked first nationally in
the amount of income produced by agriculture. It
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| California
farmland, Grapevine, CA |
grows more
than 99 percent of the nation's total of the following specialty
crops:
almonds, artichokes, figs, grapes,
raisins, olives, clingstone peaches, persimmons, dried plums,
pomegranates, sweet rice, ladino clover seed, and walnuts.
California's
Top Export Goods
California has long been one of the nation's leading states for exports. In 2003, California's exports totaled $94 billion. More than one-fourth of all manufacturing workers in California depend on exports for their jobs. California now ranks second only to Texas ($98.8 billion) among the states in its amount of exports.
California is the nation's leader in agricultural exports. In 2003, more than $7.20 billion in both food and agricultural goods were exported worldwide. Although California exports many agricultural goods, its leading exports were manufactured items in 2003. The major exports were computers and electronic products, machinery, transportation equipment, and chemicals. California exported to 224 countries in 2003. California's largest export market was Mexico ($14.9 billion), followed by Japan ($11.8 billion) and Canada ($11.2 billion).
Gross State
Product and Per Capita Income
Two key indicators of the strength
of California's economy are the gross state product and per
capita personal income. The gross state product shows the values
of the goods and services produced in California. The U.S. Department
of Commerce reports that in 2003, California's gross state product
was almost $1,446,430,000,000. Per capita income shows the average
income for each California resident. The Department of Commerce
reports that in 2003, California's per capita personal income
was nearly $33,403.
Your Role as a Consumer
You and everyone around you
are consumers. Consumers buy a wide variety of things, food,
clothing, automobiles, movie tickets, and other items. Some
goods and services are needs. We need things like food and shelter
to survive. Other goods and services are wants. These are things
that help us live comfortably, but they are not things we need
to survive.
As a consumer, you have various rights. Many private groups
and organizations provide consumer protection. One of the oldest
of these consumer groups is the Better Business Bureau. There
are many regional and local better business bureaus in communities
throughout California. They provide information about local
businesses and warn consumers about dishonest business practices.
They also investigate consumer complaints. |
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