Silicon Valley Loses 100% of All 2016 Job Gains in January

The State of California reported that unemployment in Silicon Valley rose from 3.4 to 3.8 percent, as the area lost all 22,000 jobs gained in 2016 in a single month.

Officially referred to by the State of California’s Employment Development Department (EDD) as the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara Metropolitan Statistical Area, Silicon Valley stretches from Palo Alto in the north to Hollister in the south, covering all of Santa Clara and San Benito Counties.

The “Valley” had been the national leader in job creation over the last six years, with an unemployment rate that averaged one-third less than the United States and about half the unemployment rate for California.

The unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in Santa Clara County and 7.4 percent in San Benito County. That compares to unemployment rates of 5.5 percent for California and 5.1 percent for the nation for the same period.

EDD reported that between December 2016 and January 2017, combined employment rate in Silicon Valley fell on a seasonally-adjusted basis by 22,000 jobs to 1,075,200 individuals. Trade, transportation, and utilities led the bloodbath by slashing 7,000 jobs, retail dumped 5,600 positions, professional and business services whacked 3,200 jobs, educational services reduced payrolls by 2,900 jobs and temporary employment services off-loaded 1,500 positions.

In a statement of how widespread the rapid slow-down is taking place in Silicon Valley, EDD reported that, “All other major industry groups either lost jobs or remained unchanged from December.”

The California jobless rate matched the best level in 10 years in January, but the state only added 9,700 jobs.

Breitbart News reported last month that California has been on net exporting its middle class citizens for decades. That trend accelerated to approximately 930,000 net Californians leaving the Golden State between 2004 and 2015. Most left to seek better economic opportunities in Arizona, Texas, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, according to the Census Bureau.

The federal household survey estimated that 18,176,000 Californians were holding jobs in January. The number of unemployed Californian’s was 986,000, down by 13,000 in January and 90,000 for the last year.