news article > unemployment highest since 1984
City and County of San Francisco
Office of the Controller
Monthly Economic Barometer – March 2009 (PDF)
Discussion
San Francisco’s seasonally-unadjusted unemployment rate reached 9.0% in March, rising to the U.S. rate for the first time since
August 2007. The City’s jobless rate continues to rise rapidly, in line with state trends, despite signs that the national slowdown may
be drawing to a close. California’s unadjusted figure reached 11.5% in March, up half a percentage point from February. The
national unemployment rate rose by only a tenth of a percentage point, from 8.9% in February to 9.0% in March. San Francisco’s
monthly unemployment has not been this high since 1984.
For the first time during this recession, the City has seen a large monthly increase in its County Adult Assistance Programs (CAAP)
utilization, which rose 5.2% over February. The increase in unemployment during the recession is now affecting the City’s social
service costs.
Employment services (temp agencies), construction, retail trade (particularly auto dealerships), and financial services continue to
show the largest percentage declines in employment in the local economy. Based on March numbers, however, the greatest risk of
upcoming job losses is in tourism-related business, as job losses are starting to accelerate in this sector, consistent with market trends.
Both the hotel sector and international arrivals to San Francisco International Airport posted their weakest numbers of this recession
in February, with sharp year-over-year declines. Global declines in discretionary consumer spending have clearly now hit the local
tourism industry. Tax receipts for March hotel activity show an improvement over February, but the 20% annual decline in March Sources:
[2] – Human Services Agency
[3] – DataQuick
[4] – Craigslist
[5] – Grubb & Ellis
[6] – San Francisco International Airport
[7] – Cify and County of San Francisco, Office of the Controller
[8] – PKF Consulting
[9] – Municipal Transportation Agency
[10] – BART
For more information contact Ted Egan, Chief Economist at 415-554-5268, or Kurt Fuchs, Senior Economist, at 415-554-5369.
If you would like to receive this report every month, please e-mail your request to Debbie Toy in the Controller’s Office: debbie.toy@sfgov.org
[1] – California Employment Development Department. MD refers to the San Francisco Metropolitan Division: San Francisco, Marin, and San Mateo
counties.
The city’s real estate industry is also showing no signs of a recovery, with accelerating annual declines in residential asking rents,
median home sales, and commercial rents. The commercial vacancy rate remains a relatively healthy 13.8%, but this figure does not
include nearly one million square feet of sublease space now on the marke