California's Bay Area lost jobs during September, while the state's employment gains slowed to a crawl, a report released on Friday showed, an ominous yellow flag for the once-booming economies in the region and statewide.
The unsettling employment report suggests that the job markets in the Bay Area and California have begun to wobble in the face of soaring interest rates that federal officials have imposed in a quest to cool off skyrocketing consumer prices — and the economy.
The Bay Area lost 700 jobs in September, according to the government labor report, with nearly every metro center in the region suffering job losses or no gains.
Santa Clara County was the primary bright spot in the dark landscape for the Bay Area job market last month, with the South Bay managing a modest gain of 600 jobs.
The East Bay’s job totals were unchanged in September, the report showed.
The San Francisco-San Mateo region, staggered by a corporate exodus, crime woes, tech employment cutbacks and brutally high office vacancies, lost 700 jobs during September.
California managed to eke out a gain of 6,500 jobs in September, an increase that was relatively puny, considering the state has 17.67 million nonfarm payroll jobs. All of the job numbers were adjusted for seasonal volatility.
The statewide unemployment rate improved to 3.9% in September, down from a 4.1% rate in August.
In the North Bay, Sonoma County and Solano County each lost 300 jobs and Marin County lost 100 jobs. Napa County gained 100 positions.
