As Newsom focuses on redistricting, state unemployment rate grows to nation’s worst

California’s jobless rate hit 5.5% in July, the highest in the country for the second straight month.

It seems a troubling rise in unemployment would be a top priority for Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers. Instead, they’re focused on redistricting.

Why is unemployment going up? A few recent headlines show how bad state policies are killing jobs.

“S.F.’s biggest mall loses another half-dozen restaurants as retail exodus builds,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Aug. 14, the same day the July data were released.

A day later, the Los Angeles Times announced that Playboy was leaving “ Los Angeles for Miami Beach; CEO calls California ‘anti-business .’” Playboy chief executive Ben Kohn said his company is “excited to move” to “the city of Miami Beach, which has bee