The Cities
& Counties of
Alameda
Antioch
Albany
Berkeley
Brentwood
Concord
Town of Danville
Dublin
Emeryville
El Cerrito
Fremont
Hayward
Livermore
Martinez
Newark
Oakland
Oakley
Piedmont
Pinole
Pittsburg
Pleasant Hill
Pleasanton
Richmond
San Leandro
San Ramon
Alameda County
Contra Costa County
This forecast was prepared by:
Stephanie Brown
Economic Development Analyst
(510) 272-6843
East
Bay EDA
1221 Oak St., Ste. 555
Oakland. CA 94612
Serving the East Bay
- the Bright Side of the
San Francisco Bay
For more information on
the East Bay, click on www.eastbayeda.org
For archived newsletters
and forecasts click here
For more reports and studies on the East Bay, click
here
 |
FEBRUARY 2009 EDITION
The East Bay Monthly Analysis is prepared by the East Bay
Economic Development Alliance staff to augment the East Bay Quarterly Forecast
authored by economists at the UCLA
Anderson Forecast.
East Bay EDA welcomes your comments and
suggestions. Please contact Stephanie Brown,
stephanie@eastbayeda.org or call
(510) 272-6843.
To download this report as a PDF
click
here.
THE EAST BAY IN JANUARY 2009
> Unemployment jumped to 9.2 percent – up from 7.7 percent in December
> Retail, Construction and Financial Services posted seasonal losses in payroll employment
> High inventory and falling prices continued to spark increases in Contra Costa County home sale activity
> Home values fell 38 percent annually in Alameda County and 52 percent annually in Contra Costa County
> Commercial construction permit values declined annually, while Industrial construction permits posted increases
According to the California Employment Development Department, the unemployment rate in the East Bay was 9.2 percent in January 2009, up from a revised 7.7 percent in December 2008, and above the year-ago estimate of 5.2 percent. During the same period, the unadjusted unemployment rate for California was 10.6 percent for California and 8.5 percent for the nation. In the East Bay, the unemployment rate was 9.3 percent in Alameda County, and 9.0 percent in Contra Costa County.
MONTHLY COMPARISON
According to the California Employment Development Department’s monthly Labor Market release - between December 2008 and January 2009, decreased by 23,000 jobs, falling to 996,000.
• Trade, transportation, and utilities decreased by 8,600 jobs. Retail trade (down 6,500 jobs) accounted for the majority of the loss, ending the holiday shopping season with seasonal losses concentrated in department and clothing stores.
• Construction experienced a seasonal loss of 3,000 jobs, mostly in specialty trade contractors (down 1,700 jobs) and construction of buildings (down 700 jobs).
• Professional and business services shed 2,800 jobs, partly due to a seasonal cutback in employment services (down 1,200 jobs).
• Leisure and hospitality seasonally contracted by 2,600 jobs, largely in food services and bars (down 2,200 jobs).
• The winter break resulted in seasonal declines within private and public schools that totaled 2,000 jobs.
According to MDA DataQuick, the median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos combined in the nine-county Bay Area fell to $300,000 in January 2009. A 9.1 percent decrease from $330,000 in December 2008, and down a record 45.5 percent from $550,000 in January 2008.
In the East Bay, Alameda County’s median value was $300,000, a 38.5 percent decline from January 2008. The Contra Costa County median home sale value in January 2009 was $220,000, a 52.5 percent decline over January 2008 – due in part to foreclosure-related sales. In January, Contra Costa County continued to post the highest sales volume and the steepest annual decline in median sale prices.
|
Region
|
Total Value of Construction Permits
2/08 – 1/09
|
Annual Change in Total Value of
Construction Permits
2/07-1/08 vs. 2/08-1/09
|
Annual
Percent Change
|
|
East Bay
|
$2,561,654,580
|
-$1,052,929,093
|
-29.1%
|
|
Napa
|
$319,638,261
|
-$126,334,250
|
-28.3%
|
|
San Francisco
|
$3,377,048,151
|
-$865,647,139
|
-20.4%
|
|
San Jose
|
$2,862,116,965
|
-$492,647,256
|
-14.7%
|
|
Vallejo-Fairfield
|
$632,437,287
|
-$459,656,898
|
-42.1%
|
In a comparison of these two twelve-month periods, the East Bay showed a decrease in construction permit values, falling 29.1 percent (over $1 billion) from the previous period. All other Bay Area regions posted losses during this period as well.
Oakland International (OAK), San Francisco International (SFO) and San Jose Mineta (SJC) Airports continued to see year-over-year decreases in passenger traffic in January 2009. Various air carrier closures and reductions in the number of flights have caused ridership numbers at OAK and SJC to trend downward since the fall of 2007. Ridership at OAK in January 2009 was decreased 32.8 percent from the January 2008 number, while ridership at SJC also fell 17.8 during the same period. SFO posted a 1.3 percent increase in ridership between December 2007 and December 2008*.
*January 2009 numbers for SFO were not
available.
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