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California Poised To Become World’s Fourth Biggest Economy
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According to Bloomberg, California is poised to overtake Germany as the world’s fourth largest economy, continuing to outperform the nation and other countries in GDP growth, companies’ market value, renewable energy and more.

“While critics often say California’s best days are behind us, reality proves otherwise – our economic growth and job gains continue to fuel the nation’s economy,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “California’s values and entrepreneurial spirit have powered this ascent to becoming the fourth biggest economy in the world, and we’ll continue doubling down on industries of the future, like renewables and clean energy. I feel tremendous pride in California’s resilience, leadership, and our formula for success.”

 

Here are some of the top takeaways from Bloomberg’s data:

California outperforms the US and the rest of the world across many industries. That’s especially relevant with renewable energy, the fastest-growing business in California.

California’s trajectory is most transparent in the growing divergence between its 379 companies with a market value of at least $1 billion.

California technology hardware, media and software saw sales increase 63 percent, 95 percent and 115 percent the past three years, boosting market valuations by 184 percent, 54 percent and 58 percent.

Job creation is a particularly strong area, with unemployment falling to 3.9 percent in July, the lowest since data was compiled in 1976 … California’s joblessness dipped below Texas.

 

As noted by Bloomberg, renewable energy has become California’s fastest-growing business. Governor Newsom has doubled down on clean energy and zero-emission vehicles, implementing a $10 billion package to make it more affordable for Californians to buy ZEVs while building out the state’s charging infrastructure. California now has six times more clean energy jobs than fossil fuel jobs, and ZEVs have become one of the state’s top exports.

California’s economy has proven relatively resilient, first through the pandemic and now through the current period of elevated inflation. So much so, that the Golden State’s gross domestic product is poised to overtake Germany’s as the fourth largest in the world after the US, China and Japan. It had already leapfrogged Brazil (No. 7) and France (No. 6) in 2015 and supplanted the UK (No. 5) in 2017. Although many of California’s current figures won’t be published until 2023, estimates suggest the state may have already caught Germany, with at least one forecast implying California is ahead by $72 billion when considering the state’s recent growth rate.