The Bay Area job market surged during July, an upswing powered by an employment boom in Santa Clara County, where the hiring picture is now stronger than it was during the early stages of this year, state labor officials reported Friday.
Santa Clara County added 4,800 jobs during July — nearly two-thirds of the 7,400 jobs added in the Bay Area, according to seasonally adjusted figures from the state’s Employment Development Department. The San Francisco-San Mateo region added 2,000 positions, while the East Bay gained 200. Santa Cruz County lost 300 jobs.
California added 46,700 payroll jobs in July, the EDD reported. The statewide unemployment rate remained at a record-low level of 4.2 percent.
The EDD stats point to a South Bay job market that’s picking up steam. Job gains averaged 4,300 a month in Santa Clara from May through July. That’s more than double the monthly average of 2,100 positions for the first three months of 2018.
Over the one-year period that ended in July, the technology and health care industries were the only two employment sectors that posted gains in all three of the Bay Area’s three major urban centers, the South Bay, the San Francisco-San Mateo region and the East Bay, this news organization’s analysis of seasonally adjusted figures released by Beacon Economics and UC Riverside show.
“A couple of years ago, people were worried that tech was slowing down, but Santa Clara County’s tech industry is really leading the way,” said economist Robert Kleinhenz, executive director of research with Beacon Economics.
The tech industry added, during the most recent 12 months, 16,700 jobs in Santa Clara County, 11,400 positions in the San Francisco-San Mateo metro region, and 2,900 in the East Bay.
Health care employers added 4,500 jobs in the South Bay, 3,700 in the San Francisco metro area and 1,500 in the East Bay over the one-year stretch.
Here’s how other key industries fared over the 12 months that ended in July: Construction companies added 3,400 jobs in the East Bay and 2,300 in the South Bay, but chopped 1,400 jobs in the San Franciscl-San Mateo area; hotels and restaurants gained 4,700 jobs in the South Bay and 2,300 in San Francisco-San Mateo, but shed 1,000 positions in the East Bay. The retail industry gained 1,500 jobs in the East Bay, but lost jobs in the South Bay and San Francisco-San Mateo areas.
“The Bay Area led California out of the Great Recession and it continues to lead the statewide job market,” Kleinhenz said.