Economy

An estimated 21.3 percent of the U.S. population received some form of aid from the federal government during all 12 months of 2012, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Census bureau. That amounted to approximately 52.2 million people, with the highest participation in Medicaid, at 15.3 percent, …

California’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.3 percent in April, its lowest level in seven years and a year-over-year drop of 1.5 percent. The state has added nearly 1.9 million jobs since the recovery began in February 2010, including the 29,500 non-agricultural jobs it added last month, according to data released …

Despite the recent spike in gasoline prices, Southern California freeways should fill up during the Memorial Day weekend. Travel is expected to be up 4.6 percent this weekend compared to 2014, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. If that prediction holds true it will be the largest year-over-year …

Two Inland Empire cities are among the fastest-growing cities in California. Beaumont’s population grew four percent while Chino’s grew 3.4 percent between last January and the first month of 2014, according to the state Department of Finance. That ranked Beaumont 6th and Chino 10th among the fastest-growing cities in the …

The U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in April, a slight rebound from the lackluster first three months of the year. The unemployment rate fell to 5.4 percent, down from 5.5 percent in March and the lowest it’s been in seven years, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Department …

Mom is getting even more popular. U.S. consumers will spend an average of $172.63 this year to mark Mother’s Day, up $10 from last year and the highest level of spending in at least 12 years, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2015 Mother’s Day Consumer Spending Survey. Total spending …