Silicon Valley Jobs Report: Mixed Messages

Friday's employment report for the San Jose area showed little change since last month, with employment virtually stagnant: only 100 new non-farm jobs were added in April.

The unemployment rate dropped somewhat, from its high point of 5.5% in March down to 5.2% in April, but this was mainly due to unemployed workers dropping out of the labor force.

Comparing to April of 2007 gives a slightly rosier picture. Silicon Valley added 12,100 jobs over the year, for an annual growth rate of 1.3%, up from an adjusted annual rate of 1.0% last month.

Overall, this month's job numbers give us little new information to determine how much employment in the Valley is being affected by the national recession. April is normally a slow month for job growth here, so the lack of growth this month doesn't necessarily mean the local economy has stalled. Next month's job figures are likely to shed more light.

One thing's certain: the rising cost of living, lacking a corresponding increase in wages, is hitting Silicon Valley residents hard. Yesterday, the average price for regular unleaded gasoline in San Jose officially broke $4.00/gallon.(Continued...)

Highlights of the local jobs report:

• Compared to the previous month, the San Jose metro area added just 100 non-farm jobs in April.





• 800 jobs were lost in educational and health services, due entirely to job declines at colleges and universities.



• This loss was balanced by a gain of 800 jobs in leisure and hospitality, including 500 jobs in arts, entertainment and recreation and 300 jobs in food service.



• Employment in retail trade dropped by 400 jobs, marking the fourth straight month of retail job losses.



• The government sector added 400 jobs, including 200 jobs in local education -- growth which is unlikely to be sustained as funding for public education is cut.



• Over the year, the San Jose metro area added 12,100 non-farm jobs, a 1.3% increase from April 2007.



• The biggest year-over-year gains were in manufacturing (+4,200 jobs), private educational & health services (+3,100 jobs), professional and business services (+1,700 jobs), government (+1,500 jobs), information (+1,500 jobs), and trade, transportation & utilities, which includes retail (+1,500 jobs).



• Once again, employment fell over the year in the construction and financial activities sectors due to the impacts of the housing market crash, although construction benefited somewhat from milder weather in April. The construction industry saw a decrease of 600 jobs over the year, and financial activities lost 1,200 jobs. The region also lost 500 jobs over the year in leisure & hospitality.



• For March 2008, the unemployment rate stood at 5.2%, down 0.3 percentage points from its high in March, but up 0.7 points over the year. That translates to 7,200 more unemployed residents (by official measures) than in April 2007.



• Seven years after the tech crash, Silicon Valley holds 131,400 fewer jobs than it did in April 2001.