The leaves rustle gently in the wind, and deer raise their dewy muzzles expectantly to the sky. Birds twitter in anticipation. Hark! What's that sound?
Shhh. It approaches.
Here's this month's
unemployment statistics from the state Employment Development Department!
So, there's good news and bad news, as always. And by "good news" we mean bad news lite! The good news is that the unemployment numbers for San Francisco are holding steady. We were at 9.3 percent unemployment in June and, darn it if we weren't at 9.3 percent in July, too. And that's better than the state unemployment rate, which hovers at 12.1 percent. We're less employed than neighboring Marin County, however, which rings in at 8.2 percent. It's a lot easier to keep your job when you own the company and several smaller, cuter companies near by.
The West Bay (which includes San Francisco, San Mateo and Redwood City)
lost many jobs in private and public education between June and
July, which isn't unusual during the summer when regular classes are
out of session. Except we lost 2,000 more jobs than ordinary this time around.
But
because we're a nation that really knows where to put our expendable
dollars, we gained 900 jobs in leisure and hospitality gigs! Teachers,
have you considered serving cocktails? (We know. You have. And are.)
And
finally, we lost 51,000 jobs between July 2008 and July 2009, mostly in
trade, transportation, and utilities and professional and business
services.
The birds fly up all at once, the forest is empty now. Almost desolate. The gentle fawn bounds away. Silence.
