Silicon Valley unemployment decreases to 2.1%
July gain in workers is highest since last summer
August 22, 2022 – The unemployment rate in the Silicon Valley region decreased to 2.1% in July, which was just below the rate in June (by 0.1 percentage points). Overall employment in the region increased by more than 23,000 workers, or a growth rate of 1.6% month over month. The added workers in Silicon Valley represented the largest month over month gain since June 2021 to July 2021 (24,056 added jobs). The labor force surpassed 1.5 million, adding more than 22,100 individuals from June to July. The labor force in Silicon Valley is still nearly 22,000 below the previous high in February 2020, however, the previous deficit of 44,000 was cut in half over the latest one-month period.
Overall, employers have added more than 49,300 workers since the start of the year, and nearly 95,100 since July 2021, according to analysis by Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s Institute for Regional Studies. The total number of unemployed workers in the region increased to 31,300 by mid-July, more than 138,600 lower than the total number of unemployed in Silicon Valley in April 2020. Total employment in the region is up more than 213,500 since April 2020 and the initial job losses associated with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, job growth is 16.9% over the last 27 months. The unemployment rate in Silicon Valley in July was 2.9 percentage points lower than it was a year ago (July 2021), and 9.8 percentage points lower than April 2020.
The analysis follows the August 19th release from the California Employment Development Department (EDD). National-level data for July was released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on August 5th.
Professional and Business Services jobs represented the greatest month-over-month increase in the greater Silicon Valley region (two metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs), outpacing Information.
Computer Systems Design and Related Services added 5,200 jobs as part of the larger sector from mid-June to mid-July. Information increased by 4,200 (+1.8%) jobs from mid-June to mid-July, with the majority of gains in Publishing Industries (except Internet) (+1,800, or +2.6%). Leisure and Hospitality was another sector with notable gains in the greater Silicon Valley region, adding 2,800 jobs.
“The labor force is currently at the highest level since the start of the pandemic,” said Ryan Young, Research Manager for BW Research and an affiliated researcher at the Institute. “It is likely that the total number of Silicon Valley residents actively working or looking for jobs will surpass the previous high for the region by the end of this year.”
Key findings:
Silicon Valley’s unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points between June and July, following a 0.4 percentage point increase over the prior one-month period. In July, the combined unemployment rate for Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties was 2.1%, compared to 2.1% for San Francisco, 2.5% for the Bay Area, 3.9% statewide, and 3.8% nationwide.
As of mid-July, approximately 31,300 people in Silicon Valley’s labor force remained unemployed (8,900 in San Mateo County, and 22,400 in Santa Clara County), a decrease of over 900 since mid-June, and a drop of approximately 40,900 since July 2021.
The greater Silicon Valley employment levels between June and July (based on metro-area data, which includes San Francisco and San Benito Counties) increased most notably in Professional and Business Services (+10,300 jobs, or +1.8%), Information (+4,200, or +1.8%), Leisure and Hospitality (+2,800 jobs, or +1.3%), and Construction (+2,700 jobs, or +2.7%).
San Mateo maintains the lowest unemployment rate among California counties dropping from 2.0% in June to 1.9% in July. Santa Clara, San Francisco, and Marin counties follow, each with a 2.1% unemployment rate.
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