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
 |
MARCH 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 FEBRUARY 2009
> Unemployment rose to 9.6% – up from 9.2% in January
>Trade, Transportation & Utilities employment continued to post losses, shedding 10,200 jobs since February 2008
> High inventory and falling prices continued to spark sales increases in Contra Costa County where sales were up 70% over February 2008
>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 9.6 percent in February 2009, up from a revised 9.2 percent in January 2009, and above the year-ago estimate of 5.1 percent. This compares with an unadjusted unemployment rate of 10.9 percent for California and 8.9 percent for the nation during the same period. The unemployment rate was 9.7 percent in Alameda County, and 9.3 percent in Contra Costa County.
MONTHLY COMPARISON
According to the California Employment Development Department’s monthly Labor Market release - between January 2009 and February 2009, the total number of jobs located in the East Bay increased by 400 jobs, expanding to 997,400.
• Private educational and health services led the month-over gains with a seasonal increase of 1,600 jobs. Private educational services (up 1,200 jobs) accounted for the bulk of the increase.
• Government netted an increase of 1,300 jobs as the end of winter break resulted in seasonal gains within public schools (up 1,400 jobs).
• On the downside, trade, transportation, and utilities decreased by 2,200 jobs, exceeding its average 1,700-job decrease from January to February over the prior 19 years. Retail trade experienced a seasonal loss of 1,800 jobs.
• Construction lost 700 jobs. Specialty trade contractors (down 400 jobs) accounted for the majority of the decrease.
According to MDA DataQuick, the median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos combined in the Bay Area fell to $295,000 in February 2009. That was down 1.7 percent from $300,000 in January and down a record 46.2 percent from $548,000 a year ago.
In the East Bay, Alameda County’s median value was $29,000, a 29.0 percent decline from February 2008. The Contra Costa County median home sale value in January 2009 was $216,500, a 51.9 percent decline from February 2008 – due in part to foreclosure-related sales. In February, Contra Costa County continued to post the highest sales volume and the steepest annual decline in median sale prices throughout the Bay Area.
|
Region
|
Total Value of Construction Permits
3/08 – 2/09
|
Annual Change in Total Value of
Construction Permits
3/07-2/08 vs. 3/08-2/09
|
Annual
Percent Change
|
|
East Bay
|
$2,480,944,125
|
-$1,030,486,470
|
-29.3%
|
|
Napa
|
$311,806,525
|
-$127,130,723
|
-29.0%
|
|
San Francisco
|
$3,125,444,482
|
-$1,285,960,390
|
-29.2%
|
|
San Jose
|
$2,679,660,571
|
-$692,890,571
|
-20.5%
|
|
Vallejo-Fairfield
|
$645,848,149
|
-$430,756,693
|
-40.0%
|
In a comparison of these two twelve-month periods, the East Bay showed a decrease in construction permit values, falling 29.3 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 decreased 32.8 percent from the January 2008 figure, while ridership at SJC (down 17.8) also declined during the same period. At SFO, ridership was virtually unchanged in a year-over-year comparison, falling less than 1 percent. (February 2009 data was not available).
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