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SENATE RETURNS SU NOMINATION TO THE WHITE HOUSE

Via David Lightman…

The Senate returned Julie Su’s nomination as Secretary of Labor to the White House as it wrapped up its 2023 business, but the former California cabinet official is expected to remain on the job.

President Joe Biden nominated Su, who served as California’s Secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, on February 28.

But she appeared unable to get the 51 votes needed for formal Senate confirmation all year, as some lawmakers questioned her performance as her agency struggled during the COVID pandemic to handle the deluge of unemployment claims and newly-created benefits.

Su came to Washington in 2021 as deputy labor secretary. Since Marty Walsh resigned as secretary earlier this year to become executive director of the National Hockey League Players Association, she has been acting labor secretary, which does not require confirmation.

Su can stay in that job with that status as long as Biden wants. He’s expected to renominate her when the Senate reconvenes next month.

“We are going to be very clear — Julie Su will be renominated (as) Secretary of Labor in the new year. That is something that we are committed to,” said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, top Republican on the committee that would first have to approve the nomination, remained opposed to Su as secretary. Democrats have a committee majority, and control 51 Senate votes, but have been unable to get enough votes to formally confirm Su.

Cassidy, R-La., said in a statement last week that “We need a qualified Secretary of Labor who can impartially enforce the law, properly manage a department, and refrain from partisan activism. Ms. Su failed to show her ability to do any of those three thing

“It is clear Ms. Su lacks the necessary votes for confirmation. I urge President Biden to put forward a nominee who is committed to fair enforcement of our nation’s labor laws and is capable of being confirmed in the Senate.”

Su has strong backing from most Democrats. She has a long record as a workers’ right advocate She received a genius grant from the MacArthur Foundation in 2001.

It cited her for filing a “ landmark federal lawsuit on behalf of these workers, establishing a precedent that expands the scope of employment responsibility beyond manufacturing subcontractors to the retailers and fashion designer labels that initially contract for the work.”

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY TO SEE SLOW ECONOMIC GROWTH

Via David Lightman…

Higher interest rates are slowing economic growth in the San Joaquin Valley economy, a trend expected to continue next year, according to the new Valley Business Forecast.

The Federal Reserve has raised its key interest rate 11 times since March 2022, and the report notes that it takes about a year and a half for the increases to affect the economy.

As a result, “We are approaching the period where their cumulative effects become most evident,” said the forecast, written by economic experts and other staff at California State University, Stanislaus.

The Valley’s economic slowdown intensified in the spring of this year, and had an unusual decline in July and August.

“This downturn is particularly concerning given that employment typically reaches a seasonal peak during these months,” the report said, and added, “This decline in total employment levels is expected to worsen in 2024.”

The slowdown is “more pronounced in the Valley,” the forecast said, explaining “The region’s less diversified economy, with a higher proportion of unskilled labor, makes it particularly more susceptible to economic events such as rate hikes.”

Manufacturing employment in the Valley is expected to “decelerate further in the coming months,” growing 0.78% next year and declining 0.1% in 2025.

Retail trade employment is also likely to drop, by 1.03% next year and 0.15% in 2025.

Higher mortgage interest rates should continue to hurt the construction industry. The forecast sees a 2.63% drop in employment next year and a 1.46% decline in 2025

The fastest growing economic sector this year was leisure and hospitality services, as they continue to recover from the big dropoffs during the COVID pandemic. But, the forecast says, these are areas “most sensitive to economic downturns.” While employment in this category should continue to grow, it’ll be at a slower pace next year than in 2023.

The study found the average rate of inflation in the Valley this year has been 4.71%, slightly higher than the national average.

Average weekly wages in the region were up 6.01%, meaning purchasing power was up 1.3%. But, the report said, “this gain in real wages did not fully compensate for the losses incurred during the preceding years.”

Overall, it found, “as the economy seems poised to enter a downturn as part of efforts to fight inflation, there is growing concern about the potential for this downturn to deepen. The rising unemployment rates are adding to these worries.”

The Federal Reserve rate increases are aimed at reducing the rate of inflation to 2%. Because it is getting close to that target, the Federal Reserve recently announced three rate cuts coming in 2024, which should help brighten the outlook for 2025.

“A series of reductions in interest rates will likely improve this situation, potentially aiding the economy to recover in 2025,” the report said.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Thank you to @POTUS for pardoning thousands who were convicted of marijuana charges. It’s time to end the outdated war on drugs and push for drug reform. We can modernize hiring and treat mental health.”

– Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, via Threads.

Best of The Bee:

• California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara issued a memo Thursday with a warning to automobile insurance companies: Change your practices or face discipline, via Stephen Hobbs.

• Two city workers stopped by a small encampment this week, wished a close-knit group of homeless people a merry Christmas — and informed them that if they didn’t move soon, their mobile homes and all the belongings in them would be impounded, via Ariane Lange.

• California’s leading water agency approved a controversial water infrastructure project to build a tunnel underneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta Thursday, marking a significant step in a decades-long effort to advance it, via Ari Plachta.

• California Assemblyman Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, is taking Secretary of State Shirley Weber to court, after Weber ruled that Fong is ineligible to run for Congress, via Andrew Sheeler.