VACCINE MANDATES: Attendees and employees of indoor bars, nightclubs, wineries, breweries and lounges in Pasadena, as well as in greater Los Angeles County, will need to show proof of at least one vaccination dose starting Thursday, while admission to so-called outdoor “mega events” involving 10,000 or more people must show proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within the prior 72 hours.
Employees and patrons of indoor bars, nightclubs, wineries, breweries and lounges will be required to show proof of full vaccination by Nov. 4.
The policies are the result of mirroring health orders put in place last month by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, as well as the Pasadena Public Health Department. Children under 12 are exempt.
City officials noted that businesses that serve alcohol already require patrons to show proof of age.
With respect to outdoor mega events, “Many mega event organizers have already established verification systems and are requiring proof of vaccination for patrons,” the statement said. “Pasadena Public Health Department is offering large venues and organizers of mega events technical assistance to comply with these requirements.”
CASES: The rate of COVID-19 transmission in Pasadena has reached its lowest level in nearly three months, according to Pasadena Public Health Department data.
Eight new infections were reported and no new deaths, placing the city’s pandemic totals at 13,302 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 363 fatalities.
The number of daily infections detected in the city over the prior week dropped to 9.6, which was the first time the rate declined under 10 since July 11, records show.
The Pasadena Unified School District reported 22 infections among students and two among staff members over the past week.
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials reported 1,204 infections and 30 deaths on Friday, increasing the county totals to 1,468,634 cases of COVID-19 and 26,284 associated fatalities.
Just over 720 patients were being treated for the virus throughout L.A. County, with 28% of them being housed in intensive care units, according to the agency.
The county-wide test positivity rate on Friday was measured at 1.1%.
New mandates requiring proof of vaccination or negative test results to attend outdoor “mega events” took effect Thursday night in both Pasadena and greater L.A. County. Proof of vaccination is also required for patrons and employees of indoor portions of bars, lounges, winteries, breweries and similar establishments.
L.A. County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer thanks businesses for complying with the new requirement.
At the state level, authorities reported 6,710 new infections and 156 deaths on Friday, raising the statewide pandemic totals to 4,536,273 COVID-19 cases and 69,507 fatalities.
The state’s average positivity rate over the prior week stood at 2.5%.
As of Friday, L.A. County represented 32% of California’s COVID-19 infections and 38% of the state’s deaths.
In one of the first signs of an escalating showdown between health care providers and vaccine- resistant employees, Kaiser Permanente has suspended more than 2,000 workers who have chosen not to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The Oakland-based health care provider is not alone in putting workers who are shunning the vaccine on leave without pay. Across California, hospitals have told workers who have refused a shot to stop showing up to work in recent days. Suspended workers can’t return unless they get jabbed in the coming weeks.
The crackdown throughout California comes as a state health order said workers at hospitals, dialysis clinics, surgery centers and other health care settings needed to have received either one Johnson & Johnson shot or two Pfizer or Moderna shots by the end of September. The order allowed for limited religious and medical exemptions.
The Economy: Job growth slowed to the year’s weakest pace last month as the latest coronavirus wave dashed hopes of an imminent return to normal for the U.S. economy.
Employers added just 194,000 jobs in September, the Labor Department said Friday, down from 366,000 in August — and far below the increase of more than one million in July, before the highly contagious Delta variant led to a spike in coronavirus cases across much of the country. Leisure and hospitality businesses, a main driver of job growth earlier this year, added fewer than 100,000 jobs for the second straight month.
The economic news is not all gloomy. The unemployment rate fell sharply to 4.8 percent, and wages again rose strongly as companies outside the most Covid-affected industries snapped up available workers, and paid a premium to do so. The government revised its estimate of August job growth upward, and economists said the September figures would have looked stronger had it not been for statistical quirks in measuring public-school hiring.
California jobless claims fell last week, the first decline in several weeks as the state’s economy continues to limp toward full employment.
Workers filed 68,200 initial claims for unemployment benefits during the week ending Saturday, down 10,500 from 78,700 claims filed the previous week, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday. California’s filings remain far above what was customary before government officials shut down businesses and other activities last year to combat the spread of COVID-19.
The state’s jobless claims represented more than one-fourth of all the claims filed in the U.S. in the same period, using comparable numbers that weren’t adjusted for seasonal variations.
Nationwide, jobless claims totaled 326,000, a decline of 38,000 from the prior week. The U.S. figures, unlike California’s, are adjusted for seasonal variations.
Using numbers that weren’t adjusted for seasonal volatility, unemployment claims nationwide were 258,900, down 41,400 from the prior week.
California’s most recent jobless claims represented a 26.3% share of all the claims filed nationwide, using comparable figures that weren’t adjusted for the seasonal variations. California accounts for just 11.7% of the nationwide labor pool.
Plus, the most recent jobless filings in California were 52% higher than what was typical just before the government-ordered lockdowns began statewide.
During January 2020 and February 2020, the final two months before the shutdowns started, unemployment claims averaged 44,800 a week in California.
Although California has posted sturdy job gains at times during 2021, the claims for jobless benefits remain above what economists and labor experts predicted for the current job market rebound.
For more than a month, analysts have attempted to determine — with no definitive answers — why workers have yet to race back to the job market despite plenty of hiring opportunities, according to Michael Bernick, an employment attorney and a former director of the state Employment Development Department.
chool may be in session, but the dearth of child care is still proving to be a major hurdle to women reentering the U.S. labor market.
The number of women on payrolls last month fell for the first time since the winter coronavirus surge in December, and the drop was even more pronounced for those ages 25 to 44, who are more likely to have to school-age children. The decline was a major driver behind a slowdown in overall job growth in the country.
The jobs report released Friday came as a surprise because many anticipated that the return to school would alleviate the child-care burden, which mostly falls on mothers. The data suggest that uncertainty around the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which has led to quarantines and a partial return to virtual learning in some cases, will continue to keep parents from seeking a job.
For younger children, many day-care centers have remained closed or lack staff members, providing even fewer options for working parents.
September payrolls especially declined in healthcare services and education, sectors that largely employ women, data from the Labor Department show.
The percentage of female workers older than 20 who were employed or looking for work dropped to the lowest level since February. Another factor of the nationwide shortfall in job growth was adult Black men leaving the labor market: Their participation rate also fell to the lowest level in seven months — while white and Latino men’s participation increased.
White, Black and Latina women all saw declines in participation rates. Because fewer women were in the labor force, their rate of unemployment declined. However, the jobless rate remains much higher for Black and Hispanic women — who disproportionately work in healthcare, hospitality and education, and whose communities were hit hard by the virus.
The September numbers also reflect deeper changes in the job market, with many reassessing their career and work-life balance.