The
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently released a regional report:
After the Dot-Com Bubble: Silicon Valley High-Tech Employment and Wages in 2001 and 2008. Authors Amar Mann and Tony Nunes discussed trends in 11 high-tech industries in the Silicon Valley. They defined the region as a six-county corridor including Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties.
Key points from the BLS study:
- Despite signs of recovery between 2004 and 2008, Silicon Valley high-tech employment fell nearly 17 percent, losing about 85,000 jobs between 2001 and 2008. Nationally, high-tech jobs grew by 4.0 percent during the same period.
- In aerospace, pharmaceuticals, and scientific research, both employment and relative concentration in the local economy (compared to the national workforce) actually grew during the seven-year period.
- In 2008, Santa Clara County accounted for more than half of the high-tech jobs in the region (as defined in the BLS report). The next largest of the six counties were Alameda (16 percent), San Mateo (14 percent), and San Francisco (9 percent).
- During 2001-2008, the corridor's average high-tech wages grew by 36 percent, compared to an average increase of only 21.7 percent across all industries in the region and an average increase of 25.5 percent nationwide.
- In 2008, high-tech industries generated $57.7 billion dollars in wages in the Silicon Valley, an amount nearly 14 percent greater than the total high-tech wages for 2001 in the region.
- From semiconductors in the 1970s, to Internet in the 1990s, to today's clean tech, the region continues its legacy as a global technology innovator. In 2008, 11 of the top 20 cities with the most registered patents were located in the Silicon Valley, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
BLS Regional Offices prepare
regional reports that provide analysis of state and local area employment, earnings, and other economic data.
