Business News
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- Written by: Employment Development Department
As Californians celebrate the legacy of labor leader, community organizer, and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, the Employment Development Department, or EDD, remains dedicated to helping support agricultural workers and their families by sharing vital information and resources.
“Cesar Chavez’s work inspired generations of Californians to recognize the dignity of workers and their families,” said EDD Director Nancy Farias. “EDD and our community partners honor Mr. Chavez’s legacy with vital outreach to farmworkers across the Golden State.”
California is the leading producer of agricultural goods in the U.S. and the world’s top exporter of produce.
This industry relies heavily on hundreds of thousands of workers who cultivate more than 400 different commodities across the state, as reported by the California Department of Food and Agriculture:
• Dairy products, grapes, almonds, and cattle lead the list as the top-earning agricultural commodities produced in California in 2023.
• Based on January 2025 estimates, the areas of California with the largest concentrations of farm jobs are San Joaquin Valley (180,580), South Coast (60,900), Central Coast (49,900), Desert Region (22,800), and Sacramento Valley (22,300).
• There were an estimated 833,360 crop workers in California in 2023, and approximately 235,508 of them were seasonal workers.
• In 2023, approximately 68,038 migrant laborers worked in California, representing 29% of all seasonal workers in the state.
Services for agricultural workers
EDD collaborates with various state and local organizations to provide a wide variety of services for the thousands of workers who support California’s agriculture industry:
• Referring workers to local services, such as low-cost medical services, housing, food banks, utility assistance, and childcare.
• Presenting guidance on how to apply for unemployment benefits when the growing season ends, and disability and Paid Family Leave benefits.
• Sharing information and providing aid to workers with employment services and employment-related complaints.
• Supplying information on state and federal farmworker employment rights.
• Linking workers to local agricultural job openings (H-2A program).
• Providing job search assistance and coaching, job screening, resume writing, and job referrals.
• Assisting farmworkers with resources through CalJOBS, California’s online resource for job postings, training programs, and labor market information.
• Giving workers information about training opportunities available through EDD and community partners.
• Offering access to job fairs and workshops hosted at America’s Job Center of California and other locations.
• Providing access to computers, printers, scanners, copiers, and multilingual assistance.
The Department’s Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers Outreach Program works with other State agencies and community-based organizations to serve farmworkers and agricultural employers to help agricultural workers.
The EDD Monitor Advocate Office oversees the outreach program and corresponds with California agricultural employers and EDD representatives to ensure migrant farmworkers and all job seekers are provided equitable employment services.
For more information about programs and services benefiting the California agriculture industry and its workers, visit the EDD website.
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- Written by: AAA
California drivers will find an average price of $4.62, a two cent drop from last week.
Even though the price of crude oil remains below $70 a barrel, prices at the pump are going up as more refineries make the seasonal switch to summer-blend gasoline.
“Summer-blend gas is less likely to evaporate in warmer temperatures and is more expensive to produce.” says Doug Johnson with AAA Northern California.
Fuel prices around the state:
San Francisco: $4.80
Oakland: $4.76
San Jose: $4.71
Sacramento: $4.67
Fresno: $4.62
Stockton: $4.48
Oil Market Dynamics
At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, WTI rose 26 cents to settle at $67.16 a barrel.
The EIA reports that crude oil inventories increased by 1.7 million barrels from the previous week.
At 437.0 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 5% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Quick gas and electricity stats
Gas
The nation’s top 10 most expensive gasoline markets are California ($4.64), Hawaii ($4.53), Washington ($4.09), Nevada ($3.74), Oregon ($3.73), Alaska ($3.39), Illinois ($3.38), Arizona ($3.34), Idaho ($3.26), and Pennsylvania ($3.22).
The nation's top 10 least expensive gasoline markets are Mississippi ($2.66), Oklahoma ($2.69), Kentucky ($2.69), Tennessee ($2.69), Louisiana ($2.73), Alabama ($2.74), Texas ($2.76), Arkansas ($2.76), South Carolina ($2.78), and Kansas ($2.80).
Electric
The nation’s top 10 most expensive states for public charging per kilowatt hour are Hawaii (56 cents), West Virginia (46 cents), Montana (45 cents), South Carolina (42 cents), Tennessee (42 cents), Idaho (42 cents), Alaska (41 cents), Kentucky (40 cents), New Hampshire (40 cents), and Louisiana (39 cents).
The nation’s top 10 least expensive states for public charging per kilowatt hour are Kansas (22 cents), Missouri (25 cents), Nebraska (26 cents), Iowa (26 cents), North Dakota (26 cents), Delaware (27 cents), Michigan (29 cents), Texas (39 cents), Utah (29 cents), and Washington, DC (30 cents).
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- Written by: California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control
Shoulder Tap operations focus on adults who purchase alcohol for people under the age of 21.
The statewide effort’s goal is to raise awareness about the dangers of underage drinking and the potential legal repercussions on those who supply minors with alcohol.
“ABC’s efforts this weekend alongside more than 60 California law enforcement agencies to bring awareness to underage drinking issues was an overwhelming success,” said ABC Director Joseph McCullough. “These types of collaborative efforts increase public safety for communities in our state and also boost protections for California’s young people.”
During a Shoulder Tap operation, minors supervised by law enforcement stand outside stores that sell alcohol and ask customers to make a purchase for them.
The minor says they are underage and cannot purchase the alcohol. Adults who agree may be arrested and cited for furnishing alcohol to a minor.
The purpose of the operation is to keep alcohol out of the hands of underage individuals. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, car crashes are the leading cause of death for teens. Of those crashes, 27% of drivers between the ages of 15 and 20 had a blood alcohol content of .01 or higher.
The operation resulted in citations for 162 individuals who allegedly furnished alcoholic beverages to minors. At least five other individuals were cited for driving under the influence or other infractions.
The operation demonstrates the serious consequences for adults that buy alcohol for minors. The penalty for furnishing alcohol to a minor is a minimum $1,000 fine and 24 hours of community service.
The local operations were funded by ABC’s Alcohol Policing Partnership program and the California Office of Traffic Safety through NHTSA.
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- Written by: AAA
Thanks in part to lower oil prices, the national average for a gallon of gas dropped a penny from last week to $3.11, which is 27 cents lower than this time last year.
Drivers could see fluctuations at the pump due to markets and retailers reacting to the news of tariffs, and the higher cost of producing summer-grade gasoline.
The national average per kilowatt hour of electricity at a public EV charging station stayed the same at 34 cents.
According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline demand increased from 8.45 b/d last week to 8.87. Total domestic gasoline supply decreased from 248.3 million barrels to 246.8. Gasoline production increased last week, averaging 9.6 million barrels per day.
Fuel prices around the state as of Thursday, March 6, are:
San Francisco: $4.91.
Oakland: $4.89.
San Jose: $4.80.
Sacramento: $4.84.
Fresno: $4.75.
Stockton: $4.62.
At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, WTI dropped $1.95 to settle at $66.31 a barrel. The EIA reports that crude oil inventories increased by 3.6 million barrels from the previous week. At 433.8 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 4% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Quick gas and electricity stats
Gas
The nation’s top 10 most expensive gasoline markets are California ($4.74), Hawaii ($4.54), Washington ($4.11), Nevada ($3.79), Oregon ($3.73), Alaska ($3.43), Arizona ($3.38), Pennsylvania ($3.28), Illinois ($3.21), and Washington, DC ($3.21).
The nation's top 10 least expensive gasoline markets are Mississippi ($2.64), Kentucky ($2.69), South Carolina ($2.70), Tennessee ($2.71), Louisiana ($2.71), Texas ($2.73), Alabama ($2.74), Oklahoma ($2.76), North Carolina ($2.76), and Arkansas ($2.77).
Electric
The nation’s top 10 most expensive states for public charging per kilowatt hour are Hawaii (56 cents), West Virginia (47 cents), Montana (45 cents), Idaho (42 cents), Tennessee (42 cents), Arkansas (42 cents), New Hampshire (42 cents), South Carolina (42 cents), Kentucky (41 cents), and Alaska (41 cents).
The nation’s top 10 least expensive states for public charging per kilowatt hour are Kansas (22 cents), Maryland (25 cents), Missouri (25 cents), Nebraska (26 cents), Delaware (29 cents), Iowa (29 cents), Michigan (29 cents), Utah (29 cents), Texas (30 cents), and North Dakota (31 cents).
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