Google Charleston East cover campus in Mountain View. The tech increase has enabled Silicon Valley’s job market to rebound to pre-coronavirus employment ranges, based on a brand new report launched on Tuesday.
SAN JOSE — The tech increase enabled Silicon Valley’s job market to rebound strongly in 2021 and banish a lot of the coronavirus job losses — however the area final yr suffered sharply rising inflation, a brand new report has discovered.
The most recent studying on the financial system in Silicon Valley, outlined as Santa Clara County, southern Alameda County, San Mateo County and the Scotts Valley area of Santa Cruz County, was launched on Tuesday by Joint Enterprise Silicon Valley as a part of its 2022 Silicon Valley Index report.
“We've got recovered,” stated Russell Hancock, president of Joint Enterprise Silicon Valley, a suppose tank. “Our unemployment figures are again all the way down to the place they had been earlier than the pandemic.”
The jobless charge within the multi-county Silicon Valley area was 2.9% on the finish of 2021, which was a giant enchancment from Silicon Valley’s 12% unemployment stage in April 2020 on the outset of the government-mandated enterprise shutdowns, the Joint Enterprise report decided.
“That's full employment,” Hancock stated of the two.9% jobless charge.
Earlier than the coronavirus outbreak, Silicon Valley reached a file low of two.3% unemployment.
“The entire job restoration was pushed by tech,” Hancock stated. “Tech grew its share of employment.”
Earlier than the coronavirus outbreak, the tech sector accounted for 25% of Silicon Valley’s job market. By the tip of 2021, the tech trade generated 28.8% of Silicon Valley’s jobs, the San Jose-based suppose tank estimated.
Regardless of the massive upswing in job and wealth creation in Silicon Valley as the consequences of the coronavirus start to recede, a disturbing earnings hole has emerged within the area, based on the group’s report, which was ready by the Institute for Regional Research.
The typical earnings, together with wages, salaries, bonuses and inventory choices, was $170,000 in Silicon Valley in 2021, the report estimated. That's far above the common of $71,000 nationwide. The area’s complete wealth was $1.2 trillion in 2021, based on the report.
The highest 25% of earnings earners in Silicon Valley held 92% of the area’s wealth. The highest 10% of earnings earners held 74% of the area’s wealth, estimated Rachel Massaro, the institute’s director of analysis.
“We’re producing wealth quicker than ever earlier than, private belongings, actual property, personal firm valuations, public firm market cap, and in 1,000,000 different methods,” Massaro stated. “This report reveals us that many in our area working full-time are barely scraping by.”
The report used a mixture of quarterly employment statistics from the federal authorities in addition to estimates compiled from state labor stories to calculate that Silicon Valley may need had extra jobs on the finish of 2021 than it did in mid-2019, which was a number of earlier than the coronavirus-linked job losses occurred.
Silicon Valley had 1.72 million jobs in December 2021, which was about 15,000 extra jobs than the realm had in mid-2019, based on the estimates produced by the Institute for Regional Research.
One main problem that faces the area’s residents and staff: Inflation has erupted, a surge in costs that has chewed up the steadiness sheets and pocketbooks for folks in Silicon Valley.
Over two years consisting of 2020 and 2021, inflation, as measured by shopper costs, rocketed 6% greater, Hancock stated. Meals costs soared by 16% throughout the two years. Meat, poultry, fish and egg costs zoomed 29% greater, he added.
Regardless of the entire uncertainties, tech corporations proceed to lease workplace and analysis areas in addition to purchase properties for growth in Silicon Valley, based on the report.
Google, Apple, Amazon and Fb app proprietor Meta Platforms are nonetheless increasing dramatically within the area.
“OUr Silicon Valley corporations are nonetheless rising right here,” Hancock stated.