What’s up with the Golden State? Employers have been talking about hiring but for the second month in a row the employment figure for the Bay Area has dipped below the trendline (see July 2013 data in Bay Area Employment Trends page at top). I follow the Not Seasonally Adjusted figures published by the CA EDD. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in California bumped up from 8.5% in June to 8.7% in July. The Not Seasonally Adjusted figure jumped from 8.9% to 9.3%. In both measures, the number of employed people in the state fell between June and July.
Bay Area unemployment now stands at 7% (Not Seasonally Adjusted). This is the highest rate since March and it also reflects two months of higher unemployment. The number of people employed in the Bay Area reflects a 0.4% drop from the recent peak set in May. It will be interesting to see how this correlates with real estate sales and leasing activity in the coming months. Perhaps the “growth” in the economy is just so much blue sky.
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