Mark's Notebook


	One of the nice parts about heading toward middle age is that you can find all your favorite music in the bargain bin. - Ken Floyd

Valley gains 4,300 jobs in October

San Jose Mercury News

Tuesday 16 November 2004, 5:40 pm
Keywords: News Articles

By Margaret Steen

Santa Clara County's job market continued its recovery in October, adding 4,300 jobs, the most in that month since 1997. The county's unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a point, to 5.3 percent.

The county had 846,000 jobs, up 4,300 from the revised September figure, but still well short of the peak of 1,070,200 reached in December 2000. Still, it's not clear whether the numbers signal an improvement in hiring in the tech sector. Much of the growth came from seasonal gains in government and education and health services. The manufacturing sector lost 400 jobs.

"They don't hire those people unless they have real customers ready to spend money," said Donn Ledwick, owner of Professional Search Associates in San Jose. "To me that's just a key indicator that we might be looking at a sustained period of uptick in the tech market."

Candidates "are not as readily available for work as they were six months ago," said Grace Coquia, recruiting manager for the professional services division of Manpower in San Jose. "The market has really turned."

Still, it's not yet an employees' market. Employers continue to be very picky, asking for applicants who are an exact match for a long list of qualifications.

http://www.mercurynews.com:80/mld/mercurynews/news/10193641.htm