LA budget crisis a threat to jobs
Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the United States, is confronting a mounting budget deficit that threatens to force thousands of job cuts, deplete its fiscal reserve and further damage its credit rating. The $212m (£135m) budget shortfall, projected to more than double next year, is attributed mainly to plunging tax revenue blamed on the region’s sagging economy, falling property values and a 15 per cent jobless rate — one of the highest of any major US city.