Job market soars to big gains, defies COVID surge
The Bay Area job market soared to big gains in December, ending 2021 on a bright note despite fresh economic uncertainties unleashed by the omicron variant of the coronavirus, state officials reported Friday.
The gains in the ninecounty region were powered by big increases in employment in Santa Clara County, the San FranciscoSan Mateo region and the East Bay, according to figures released by the state Employment Development Department.
The Bay Area added 20,900 jobs during December, the EDD reported. Santa Clara County added 7,200 jobs, the San Francisco-San Mateo region gained 7,000 positions, while the East Bay added 6,400 jobs. All of the figures were adjusted for seasonal volatility.
California added 50,200 jobs during December.
“In a tug-of-war between the positive economic momentum of the state’s economy and the headwind from COVID, California’s economy is making slow but steady progress forward,” Sung Won Sohn, a professor of finance and economics with Loyola Marymount University, wrote in a research note Friday regarding the latest jobs report.
The statewide unemployment rate improved to 6.5% in December, down from 7% in November, the EDD reported.
“California continues to create an outsized share of the nation’s new jobs, with 25 percent of the entire country’s job creation happening right here, part of the record 1 million new jobs that our state created throughout last year’s economic recovery,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday in a prepared release.
The Bay Area was the engine that powered the California job gains by accounting for a whopping 41% of all of the job gains that occurred in California during December.
“California continues to move in the right direction, with the Bay Area playing an outsized role,” said Michael Bernick, an employment attorney with law firm Duane Morris and a former director of the state EDD.
During all of 2021, the Bay Area added 214,900 jobs, this news organization’s analysis of the EDD figures shows.