Mark's Notebook

Bay Area picks up jobs in 2004

San Francisco Chronicle

By Todd Wallack

But Silicon Valley sees fewer positions

When it comes to job growth, Silicon Valley and the rest of the Bay Area seem to be headed in opposite directions.

Overall, the nine-county Bay Area picked up 16,800 jobs in 2004, a modest increase, according to a survey of employers. About 4.2 percent of area workers were unemployed in December, down from 5.4 percent a year ago.

But Santa Clara County lost 9,800 jobs during the same period, down more than 1 percent, according to data released late last week by the state Employment Development Department, as many of the region's tech companies continued to tighten spending.

California as a whole created about 1.1 percent more jobs last year, about the same pace as the Bay Area -- excluding hard-hit Santa Clara County.

But the state's employment picture took a surprising turn for the worse in December, losing 25,000 jobs, after adjustments for seasonal variations, according to a survey of employers.

Locally, jobs rose in the San Francisco metro area and the East Bay last month, but slipped in Sonoma County, Santa Clara County and the Vallejo- Fairfield-Napa areas, according to the payroll survey.

In one bright spot for Silicon Valley, the loss of 600 jobs lost last month was the smallest decline in any December since 2000, according to the state employment agency.

The San Jose area lost 20,800 workers as people fled the area, went back to school or gave up looking for jobs for other reasons.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/01/18/BUGQCARR871.DTL

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Last updated Tuesday 13 May 2008