Orange and Los Angeles counties lost the most jobs from July 2007 to July 2008 — 45,000 — of 310 metropolitan areas for which data were available, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports today.

No. 2 in year-over-year job losses is Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., cutting 36,700 jobs, followed by Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz., 28,300 jobs.

The top job gainers were Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, 68,000 jobs; Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas, 57,100 jobs; and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash., 38,900 jobs.

The loss is 0.8% of the LA/OC workforce, far down the list in terms of percentage loss. The greatest percentage loss was 4.2% in Deltona-Dayton Beach-Ormond Beach, Fla.

The two-county So. Cal. area now has 495,800 people unemployed, 7.5% of the civilian work force. The state pegs unemployment in Orange County alone at 5.7%.

Click here to read the report.

Click here to read about a separate forecast of higher job cuts after Labor Day.

RELATED STORIES:

• Three O.C. cities rank near top in U.S. income
• Nation, state got bigger raises in ‘07 than O.C.
• O.C. unemployment rate highest in 13 years
• Massive post-Labor Day job cuts forecast
• Local consumer prices see biggest jump in 17 years
• Auto sales drop 8% in July

The poverty rate in Orange County edged down last year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday.

About 263,000 county residents, 8.9 percent of the total population, lived below the federal poverty line in 2007. That’s down from 9.7 percent in 2006.

The county poverty rate in 2007 was significantly below the state and national rates, 12.4 percent and 12.9 percent respectively.

However, federal poverty thresholds don’t take high local housing costs into account. The nationwide poverty threshold last year was $21,027 for a family of four.

A local advocacy group, Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development, argues that a more realistic measure of distress for the county is 200 percent of the poverty level. By that measure, 737,000 people, nearly a quarter of the population, are in economic trouble.

More than half of the county’s poor, 143,000 people, are Hispanics.

The poor also are concentrated in central county. While the poverty rate is just 1.8 percent in Yorba Linda and 3.7 percent in Newport Beach, it is 17.1 percent in Santa Ana, 12.5 percent in Anaheim and 9.4 percent in Garden Grove.

Poor education proved to be a ticket to poverty. Of the 332,000 Orange County adults without a high school diploma, 17.5 percent were poor.

Related links:

• Three O.C. cities rank near top in U.S. income
• Nation, state got bigger raises in ‘07 than O.C.
• O.C. unemployment rate highest in 13 years
• O.C. home prices see worst drop in 32 years
• Local consumer prices see biggest jump in 17 years
• Auto sales drop 8% in July
• 1 parent, 2 kids need $66,966 salary to afford O.C.

Three Orange County cities rank among the nation’s 10 wealthiest, according to new U.S. Census Bureau estimates released today.

Newport Beach, Yorba Linda and Irvine all ranked near the top in median household income, the broadest measure of income. Mission Viejo ranked 19th among 520 cities surveyed.

It’s impossible to say definitively which of the top five cities really is the wealthiest because of statistical uncertainty. The margins of error for the top five cities overlap.

Newport Beach ranked top in the U.S. by a narrower gauge with a median family income of $162,976.

The difference: A household may consist of one person or several. A family is a household with two or more persons related by blood, marriage or adoption. In most cities, the median family income is larger than the median household income.

To find the median income for Orange County’s 15 largest cities, CLICK HERE.

And here are the nation’s 20 wealthiest cities, ranked by median household income in 2007.

Related stories:

• Nation, state got bigger raises in ‘07 than O.C.
• O.C. unemployment rate highest in 13 years
• O.C. home prices see worst drop in 32 years
• Local consumer prices see biggest jump in 17 years
• Auto sales drop 8% in July
• 1 parent, 2 kids need $66,966 salary to afford O.C.

Orange County’s median household income rose to $73, 263 in 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today.

That was a 4.3 percent increase from 2006, unadjusted for inflation. Not bad for a year marked by cratering home prices and the collapse of the born-in-O.C. subprime loan business.

But California and the nation did better enjoying 5.8 percent and 4.7 percent increases, respectively, in median household income. The state median hit $59,948 while the national median topped $50,000 for the first time: $50,740.

This chart shows the trend in median household income. The 1999 figure is from the 2000 census, when respondents were asked to list their income for the prior year. The later numbers all come from the American Community Survey, which asks people their income in the preceding 12 months.

Related news…

• O.C. unemployment rate highest in 13 years
• O.C. home prices see worst drop in 32 years
• Local consumer prices see biggest jump in 17 years
• Auto sales drop 8% in July
• 1 parent, 2 kids need $66,966 salary to afford O.C.

Billionaire Henry Samueli admits he knowingly lied to federal officials probing a $2.2 billion accounting fraud scheme at his company, Broadcom Corp., and says that he is now prepared to accept the consequences.

“My first instinct was to fight this case. The last thing I wanted was to have a felony on my record,” Samueli wrote in a statement to the judge who is scheduled to sentence him on Sept. 8. “I also did not want to accept the consequences of admitting guilt, including being labeled a felon.”

The comments in a sentencing memorandum are Samueli’s first extended public statement since June, when he pleaded guilty to lying about his role in granting stock options at Broadcom. Until now, Samueli has let his lawyers do the talking.

Samueli pleaded guilty to one count of lying to Securities and Exchange Commission investigators about his role in assigning stock options to Broadcom’s top executives. The SEC was investigating Broadcom’s $2.2 billion financial restatement to reflect the true accounting cost of employee stock options granted from 1998 to 2003, the largest restatement among more than 150 companies embroiled in options scandals.

Some excerpts from Samueli’s statement:

“I have spent days and nights thinking about why I said what I did in front of the SEC on May 25, 2007. I did not plan out what I was going to say. When the SEC asked me about the options granting process for Section 16 executive officers, I responded that I was not ‘involved.’ Of course, that was not the truth since I was involved in the process. My statement before the SEC was completely out of character for me.

“However, after long discussions with my family and friends, I had to make the right decision. My statements before the SEC were wrong and I take full responsibility for my actions and I am prepared to accept all the resulting consequences.”

In his statement, Samueli gives a brief biography: From his modest upbringing as the son of Holocaust survivors, through his career as an educator at UCLA and as an entrepreneur who co-founded Broadcom, one of Orange County’s largest public companies. He talks about his philanthropy, his religious beliefs, his role as a father of three daughters.

“I have tried to teach my children the most important lessons about personal responsibility and respect for others that I learned from my parents,” he said.

Under his plea deal, Samueli agreed to pay a $250,000 fine, $12 million to the government and serve up to five years probation. The deal does not require him to cooperate with prosecutors or to testify in criminal cases against former Broadcom executives, Henry T. Nicholas and William Ruehle, who were also charged with securities fraud. Nicholas, who also faces drug distribution charges, and Ruehle have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to go on trial in April.

Samueli’s plea deal must still be approved by U.S. District Court Judge Cormac J. Carney.

The 158-page court filing contains character references from Samueli’s colleagues in business, academia, religious and charitable organizations. It also provides background on the origins of Broadcom and describes how, from the start, Samueli focused on technology while Nicholas ran management and finance — a distinction Samueli’s attorney, Gordon Greenberg, makes in arguing for a lenient sentence.

“At first, Dr. Henry Nicholas and Dr. Henry Samueli each invested $5,000 and set up the company in Dr. Nicholas’s condominium,” Greenberg wrote. “Although Dr. Nicholas and Dr. Samueli were co-chairmen of Broadcom, they had different responsibilities. Dr. Samueli was Chief Technology Officer and he focused on technological and engineering matters. Dr. Nicholas, ‘who had better business and negotiating skill,’ became president and CEO.”

Samueli is still the target of an SEC civil suit as well as lawsuits filed by Broadcom shareholders. He took a leave of absence as Broadcom’s chief technical officer. He has been suspended indefinitely as owner of the Anaheim Ducks hockey team and could have his name removed from the engineering schools at UC Irvine and UCLA, which he supported with millions of dollars in donations.

To see his complete statement, CLICK HERE.

To see his sentencing memorandum, CLICK HERE.

Related stories …

• Feds seek to seize billionaire’s mansion in drug case
• Broadcom founder must live as a felon, feds argue
• Broadcom’s Samueli pleads guilty
• NHL suspends Ducks owner Samueli
• Broadcom billionaire charged with distributing ‘ecstasy’ to prostitutes, others

Federal prosecutors have sued billionaire Henry T. Nicholas III to forfeit one of his Newport Coast mansions and a Las Vegas penthouse they say he used for parties and business activities where cocaine, ecstasy, laughing gas and other illegal drugs were distributed.

The civil suit, which is connected to a criminal drug case filed in June against Nicholas, places a lien on the title of the properties. Nicholas can continue to occupy or use the homes until the cases are resolved, but the suit would cloud the title if he attempts to sell the properties.

Nicholas has pleaded not guilty to the drug charges and to separate federal criminal charges alleging he committed securities and accounting fraud by leading a scheme to conceal $2.2 billion worth of employee stock options while he was chief executive of Broadcom Corp.

The options case is scheduled to go to trial in April. The drug suit will begin six months after the options case ends.

Attorneys for Nicholas did not respond to requests for comment on the forfeiture suit. The suit was filed in July, but did not publicly name Nicholas until papers that were docketed late last week.

The lawsuit demands the right to seize Nicholas’ mansion at 9 Telescope in Newport Coast, where it says he managed a supply of cash to buy drugs that he often used to party with musicians for his recording company, Level 7. Among the artists Level 7 worked with, Nicholas has said, areLinkin Park, a platinum-selling alternative metal band.

Nicholas has said he helped Linkin Park’s lead singer, Chester Bennington, kick a drug habit. Bennington declined to answer questions for this story.

“Henry Nicholas is a friend of mine and I wish nothing but the best for him and his family,” he said in an email.

Public records show Nicholas’ company, Caldicot Properties, bought 9 Telescope in March 2006 for $5.5 million. The forfeiture suit did not name Nicholas’ current Newport Coast residence, a mansion formerly owned by the founders of St. John Knits, which he purchased in November 2006 for $19.5 million, according to property records.

The suit says Nicholas began holding drug parties in the late ’90s while he headed Broadcom, entertaining customers at trade shows, at a rented Laguna Niguel warehouse and, after 2002, at his Las Vegas condo.

“On many occasions, Nicholas used his private plane to transport controlled substances to the Las Vegas residence,” the suit says.

The suit does not attempt to seize Nicholas’ two private jets — a 1999 Cessna S550 Citation and a 1993 Gulfstream GIV — which can be taken by authorities in different court proceedings. Several documents sealed in the criminal case indicate a dispute over the aircraft. Nicholas’ two pilots filed affidavits saying they would agree not to fly their client under terms of his release while awaiting trial.

To see the forfeiture complaint, CLICK HERE. Related stories …

• Broadcom founder must live as a felon, feds argue
• Judge halts SEC case against Nicholas, Ruehle (Update)
• Broadcom billionaire charged with distributing ‘ecstasy’ to prostitutes, others
• Prosecutors: Video shows Broadcom billionaire doing drugs
• Billionaire who built Broadcom led a secret life, accusers say

Auto sales in Orange County continued to fall in July, but they went from an out-of-control nosedive to a gentler descent, the Orange County Automobile Dealers Association reports.

Registration of new vehicles in Orange County fell 8 percent in July, less than half of the year-to-date 17.3 percent sales plunge.

Sales of cars increased 10.1 percent in July compared to last year, while sales of light trucks spiraled 29.6 percent, the auto dealers report.

Subcompacts, economy and fuel-efficient brands gained market share. Sales of South Korean-made Kias soared 68.1 percent through July of this year. Sales of MINI, Volkswagen, Buick, Mazda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Subaru and Honda grew while other brands lost ground.

The market share for pickup trucks and larger SUVs has shrunk more than 5 percent so far this year, down to 40 percent of all new vehicle sales. In 2004, light trucks accounted for more than half of all new vehicles sold in Orange County. That year, Orange County auto sales hit a record 197,000. In 2007, the total fell to 166,000.

This July, gasoline sales began to decline after soaring dramatically through the spring. The average price of a gallon of regular in Orange County was $3.892 on Monday, down from a June 19 peak of $4.58, the Automobile Club of Southern California reports.

July is often a relatively weak sales month, before auto dealers introduce incentives to clear their floors in advance of new models.

To see the auto dealers’ press release, CLICK HERE.

Related stories …

• O.C. auto sales plummet 19% in first half of ‘08
• Diesel prices still high after gas prices have started to drop
• Driving without gasoline, running on hydrogen
• O.C. drivers pay more for hot gas
• Fletcher Jones tops Ward’s Dealer 500 for first time
• Jaguar-Land Rover leaving O.C. for N.J.

Broadcom Corp., the Irvine chip maker, is expanding into digital television, paying $192.8 million to buy a division from chip maker AMD, the two companies said today.

The acquisition — which comes with 530 employees working at six design centers — aims to expand Broadcom’s reach into the growing digital TV sphere, such as interactive platforms and “panel processors” that help transmit high-quality images.

Broadcom makes an array of communications chips for connecting television, computer networks, video games and wireless phones. Its chips are in such popular products as the Nintendo Wii and the Apple iPhone. For more on how the AMD chips might be used, see our Gadgetress blog.

“The acquisition of AMD’s DTV business, which will become the core of Broadcom’s DTV line of business, will enable us to significantly scale and accelerate the completion of our digital TV product portfolio,” said Daniel Marotta, senior vice president  and general manager of Broadcom’s Broadband Communications Group. “We believe our combined DTV team will be in an excellent position to grow and thrive in this burgeoning market by bringing best-in-class people, technology, solutions and support to our customers.”

For AMD, the deal will help the company focus on its core business of computer microprocessors and shore up a balance sheet after high recent losses.

A note to investors from FBR Capital Markets said: “We believe this should help Broadcom gain additional traction in its digital TV business, where its current efforts have disappointed investors thus far. Additional digital TV traction could also help Broadcom cross sell chip content into digital TVs such as WiFi, video processors and potentially others.”

Broadcom’s stock was down more than 3 percent following the acquisition announcement. AMD shares rose slightly.

The boards of both companies have approved the deal, which is expected to close by the end of 2008.

Related stories …

• Broadcom shares soar on earnings, outlook
• Ex-Broadcom VP named CEO of Symwave
• News of Microsoft-Broadcom TV controller hits rival’s shares
• UPDATE: Qualcomm announces new chips to get around Broadcom injunction

The Federal Trade Commission is banning telemarketers from making prerecorded sales calls without customers’ written consent.

Telemarketers had lobbied the FTC to let them make prerecorded pitches. But after getting 14,000 public comments on the issue — overwhelmingly against the industry’s plan — the FTC said no.

Under the ban, companies can deliver prerecorded informational calls, for example informing people that their airline flight has been canceled or that they have an appointment. What they can’t do is sell.

The new rule further tightens the FTC’s telemarketing regulations, spokesman Mitchell Katz said. Consumers already can sign up for the national Do Not Call Registry. They also can order specific companies not to call back.

The new FTC rule exempts health-care providers. It also exempts charity telemarketers calling previous donors to or members of the charity.

The new rule also will make it easier for consumers to change their minds after agreeing to allow prerecorded calls. Beginning Dec. 1, telemarketers must include an automatic keypress or voice-activated message in prerecorded calls that will let consumers opt out of receiving future calls.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has an idea. Make that an IDEA, as in yet another clunky name thrown together to make a neat acronym.

IDEA is short for Interactive Data Electronic Applications, and the, uh, idea behind it is simple: Use web tags in corporate disclosures so that investors can quickly compare dozens of companies in any way they like. And it’s coming soon to the SEC website.

For 75 years, public companies have been filing detailed reports with the SEC. Those reports are by far the best way for outsiders to analyze companies. Wall Street analysts routinely plumb those reports for insights. So do news reporters and, increasingly, Ma and Pa Investor.

Until the early 1990s, those reports were on paper. The only way to get them was to call a broker or mail a check to the SEC and wait weeks for a thick envelope to arrive.

Then the SEC unveiled EDGAR, another awkward acronym, this one standing for “Electronic Data Gathering and Retrieval.” EDGAR gave investors real-time access to corporate filings.

Unfortunately EDGAR is mired in old technology: It can only give users one document at a time. If you want to analyze, say, a balance sheet, you have to cut and paste it into a spreadsheet. And if you want to compare one company’s balance sheet with several competitors, you have to repeat the same cut-and-paste routine for every company.

IDEA promises to change all that. Public companies will have to embed “Extended Markup Language” tags in their SEC reports. Investors will be able to use the tags to search hundreds, even thousands of reports simultaneously for the information they consider relevant.

“IDEA will ensure that the SEC continues to stay ahead of the needs of investors,” said SEC Chairman and former OC Congressman Chris Cox. “This new SEC resource powered by interactive data will give investors far faster, more accurate and more meaningful information about the companies and mutual funds they own.”

The SEC news release, including a video, is here.