California’s unemployment rate held at the record low rate of 3.9% in December. According to the EDD, California also added 12,600 non-farm payroll jobs during that month. The EDD further stated that the growth began in February 2010 and that California has gained more than 3.4 million jobs since then. The unemployment rate has been at 3.9% since October 2019.

The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that whether an employee deserves pay in California turns on whether the employer exercised control over the employee, not whether the employee is actively working; federal law says nothing about states requiring employers to pay workers that are under the employer’s control while on break. (See, Ridgeway v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. - filed Jan. 6, 2020 -- 2020 S.O.S. 17-15983.) In Ridgeway v. Wal-Mart Stores, the panel reject