20,000 jobs may go in California

Cash-strapped California is to start notifying 20,000 state workers that they may lose their jobs. A spokesman for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made the announcement after California lawmakers failed to approve a $40bn (£28.2bn) budget.

California, the world's eighth biggest economy, has been hit by the housing crisis, unemployment and falling consumer spending. The jobs on the government payroll would be cut in June. It would be done in preparation for the next fiscal year, which starts in July.

California has already laid off state workers for two days a month, put 2,000 public projects on hold and delayed tax refunds.