Charles Schwab announced last week that it is planning to move "a significant number of San Francisco-based jobs" out of state over the next three to five years. According to a recent article in Forbes, "Observers close to the situation blame the city's extreme payroll tax and high cost of doing business in California as the reasons for the company's exodus." The article notes that Schwab joins Chevron, The Campbell Soup Company, Boeing and many other large employers in leaving California or shifting operations to other states in the recent past. California is consistently ranked as one of the least business-friendly states in the nation in terms of its taxation rates, regulation, and litigation risks. (In related news, California's unemployment rate hovers at 8.3 percent — the fifth highest rate in the nation.)
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