A Generation of Widening Inequality: The State of Working California, 1979 to 2006
By Alissa Anderson Garcia, David Carroll, Jean Ross
California Budget Project
Since the late 1970s, California’s job growth has become concentrated in low-wage and high-wage jobs and the gap between workers at the low end and the high end of the earnings distribution has widened. This report highlights the importance of public policies that boost the earnings of low- and middle-income Californians and reduce the gap between rich and poor.

A Small Raise: Jobs, Wages and
Healthcare in 2007
By Arindrajit Dube, Ken Jacobs and
Dave Graham-Squire
UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research
and Education
Though wages nationwide increased slightly, in California real wages fell and unemployment increased. The report points out that the cooling construction industry is bringing down job growth nationally and in the Golden State.

Job Quality and Black Workers: An Examination of the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York
By Steven C. Pitts
UC Berkeley Center for Labor
Research and Education
A new report finds that more than half of African American workers in the United States have jobs that don’t pay well, provide retirement and health benefits, or offer avenues for advancement. Author Steven Pitts concludes that black workers face both a crisis of unemployment and of low-wage jobs, and that these jobs are concentrated in several key industries.

Los Angeles 2007 State of the City Report
Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs and California State University, Los Angeles
Seven experts examine key issues facing the City of Los Angeles, including the environment, demographic changes, the housing crisis, public safety, political participation and the economy.

The Road to Jobs: Patterns of Employment in the Construction Industry in Eighteen Metropolitan Areas
By Todd Swanstrom
Saint Louis University
Two years after Congress directed transportation agencies to ensure that disadvantaged local workers are trained and hired for construction projects as they spend the $244 billion authorized in the 2005 federal transportation bill, a new report reveals that African Americans, Latinos and women are being left out of the ongoing construction boom. Los Angeles is among the areas studied.

Characteristics of Unauthorized Immigrants in California, Los Angeles County and the United States
Karina Fortuny, Randy Capps and Jeffrey Passel
The Urban Institute
This study looks at the traits and trends of undocumented immigrants in the county, state and nation. The report finds that child poverty rates are nearly twice for children of undocumented parents than of children of native born parents, and that 76 percent of L.A. County children of undocumented parents are U.S. citizens without health insurance.