Non-Californians may view the exodus from the state as a sort of reverse migration that goes against historical trends, particularly those dramatized in old western movies. Yet and still, Berkeley claims that the golden state is still golden.
“California has had greater employment growth, both overall and in the private sector, than the average of the Republican-controlled states,” Berkeley’s Labor Center claimed. “Total employment grew by 16.9 percent in California from 2011 to 2016 compared to an average of 12.2 percent in Republican-controlled states.”
“In the private sector, California employment grew by 20.5 percent, while the average private-sector employment growth in Republican-controlled states was just 15.7 percent.” The states that Berkeley considers Republican controlled are: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Nevertheless, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), all of those states, with the exception of Michigan, have lower unemployment rates than California.
