Friday, March 18, 2016

Whoa: Silicon Valley's Santa Clara County Falls From Ranks Of Hottest Job Markets

It might be time to dust off that list of San Francisco office REITS. And try to find a way to short WeWork.*
From the Mercury-News' SiliconBeat blog:

Santa Clara County, San Francisco fall from ranks of hottest U.S. job markets
The economies of Santa Clara County and the San Francisco-San Mateo region no longer are the hottest in the nation.

Instead, fast-growing metro areas in Florida and Texas have jumped into the lead in the United States, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey released Friday.

Over the 12 months that ended in January, total payroll jobs in Santa Clara County grew 3.8 percent.

That’s robust growth for Santa Clara County. However, it’s nowhere near the 5 percent pace of annual job growth that the South Bay has enjoyed over the last few years.

The San Francisco-San Mateo region’s job totals increased by 4.3 percent over the one-year period that ended in January.

The East Bay posted an annual jobs growth rate of 2.8 percent.

Some economists believe Santa Clara County and San Francisco have already seen their best days in the current economic cycle.

The slowdown in the rate of annual growth has occurred partly because, analysts say, the technology sector doesn’t appear to be hiring as rapidly as previously....MORE
*WeWork just pulled in $430 million at a $16 billion valuation from Chinese investors in another of these "Pay any price, bear any burden..." deals that look suspiciously like capital flight from China. See:

China: Is Anbang's $22 Billion Buying Spree Just Gussied Up Capital Flight?

And apologies to the JFK literary estate for swiping the line from the Inaugural Speech.