Another big jobs boost in March for Bay Area

Economy starts to climb out of huge job-loss crater created by COVID-19

The Bay Area scored big job gains in March, an upswing that followed mammoth employment increases in February and offered hope the region may be shaking off the economic malaise from a year of coronavirus-linked shutdowns.

Santa Clara County, the East Bay and the San Francisco-San Mateo region each gained thousands of jobs in March, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday.

“We’ve already turned the corner, and in the coming months, job growth will start to rebound in earnest,” said Patrick Kallerman, research director with the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. “Things could truly start to feel like normal by summer if we keep up this pace.”

The Bay Area gained 16,900 jobs during March, with the San Francisco-San Mateo region adding 6,100 positions, Santa Clara County reporting

5,100 jobs and the East Bay gaining 2,400 positions. As in February, the bulk of the jobs came in the especially hard-hit leisure and hospitality sector.

“There is no mystery regarding the recovery,” said Michael Bernick, an employment attorney with law firm Duane Morris and a former director of the state EDD. “It is due to widespread vaccinations finally being achieved, schools finally reopening and the economic lockdowns finally being lifted.”

Every one of the metro areas in the nine-county Bay Area gained jobs in March, the new report shows. Santa Cruz County, located next to the Bay Area, lost 500 jobs.

“The Bay Area economy strengthened in the past two months led by Silicon Valley,” said Stephen Levy, director of the Palo Altobased Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy.

Employers in California added 119,600 jobs during

March.

“California’s economic recovery depends on bringing back the businesses and jobs we’ve lost over the past year,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “That’s why today’s jobs report, which showed that California added 119,600 jobs in March, is so encouraging.”

The statewide numbers came on the heels of an increase of 156,100 jobs in February, the EDD reported.

“We still have a long way to go, but with over 24 million shots in arms and more kids getting back into classrooms every day, this is the steady progress that we need to bring California roaring back,” Newsom said in a statement.

The statewide unemployment rate in March improved slightly to 8.3%, a decrease from 8.5% in February, the EDD reported.

“After a dismal winter, we’re finally seeing some life return to the state’s labor market,” said Taner Osman, research manager with Beacon Economics and the UC Riverside Business Center for Economic Forecasting. “This is very welcome news for workers who have been displaced from the labor market by the effects of the pandemic.”

During February and March, the Bay Area gained 50,100 jobs. Over the same two months, employment increases totaled 15,900 in Santa Clara County, 16,100 in the San Francisco-San Mateo region and 7,000 in the East Bay, this news organization’s analysis of the EDD figures shows. All the numbers were adjusted for seasonal volatility.

Still, the road to full recovery for the Bay Area is daunting.

From February 2020, the last month before coronavirus shutdowns began, through March 2021, the Bay Area was staggered by a jaw-dropping loss of 400,200 jobs.

Those record employment setbacks have created an economic abyss and a huge mountain to climb.

At the current pace of recovery, it will take at least 16 months — somewhere around July 2022—for the once-robust Bay Area economy to return to the recordhigh number of jobs it had in February 2020.

For some metro centers, the recovery is even more forbidding:

• The East Bay faces 32 months — nearly three years — to regain the 111,500 jobs it lost during the 13-month period ending in March.

• The San Francisco-San Mateo region, which once boasted a roaring economy but now is haunted by corporate defections and empty office sites, will require 18 months at the current pace to recapture the 144,500 jobs it lost since February 2020.

• Santa Clara County, which lost 91,500 jobs over 13 months, could recover by March 2022.

California is on a similar recovery pace. From February 2020 through March 2021, California lost 1.53 million jobs. It could take the state 11 months to return to its employment pinnacle.

Of course, those numbers are subject to change and the pace could easily shift.

During March, the battered hotel and restaurant industry added 3,600 jobs in San Francisco-San Mateo, 1,300 positions in Santa Clara County and 700 jobs in the East Bay, Beacon Economics reported.

“Hospitality is accounting for the majority of job gains and that should continue,” said Jeffrey Michael, director of the Stocktonbased Center for Business and Policy Research at the University of the Pacific. “That sector has been decimated in this recession and pent-up demand is starting to be unleashed.”

The tech industry added 1,100 jobs in the East Bay and 900 in Santa Clara County. The San Francisco San Mateo metro area, however, lost 300 tech jobs, according to Beacon’s analysis, which uses seasonally adjusted figures.

Retailers added 600 jobs in both Santa Clara County and the San Francisco-San Mateo metro area and 300 positions in the East Bay.

Despite the obstacles confronting the Bay Area job market, Levy is convinced the region is headed for a sustained upswing as more businesses reopen and vaccinations rise.

“I’m pretty optimistic,” Levy said. “The Bay Area has momentum on its side. The April report should be even stronger.”