Donde Esta Sonoma County Jobs?

"County lost jobs in September for the fifth straight month — the longest period of job losses since the recession in 2001, the state reported Friday."

"Most analysts agree the economy is in worse shape than a year ago, in part because the housing downturn has wiped out jobs and threatens to undermine consumer spending."

"Unemployment fell in September to a five-year low of 3.7 percent, down from 4.1 percent a year ago, as fewer people are searching for jobs, according to the report. The mixed numbers depict an economy teetering on the edge, said economist Steven Cochrane, senior managing director at Moody’s Economy.com."

"Job growth began to stall in Sonoma County in March and the local economy began to shed jobs in May. Since then, job losses accelerated every month."

'“Unless there is something very unique going on in Sonoma County, some of that vitality from the tech sector should be filtering up to Sonoma,” Cochrane said. “But the (employment) numbers just don’t look very good ... almost all the different industries are going down.”'

"Overall, employment declined to 192,900 in September, down from 195,600 a year ago. Job losses were spread across several key sectors of the local economy."

"Agriculture, one of the county’s defining industries, has lost 900 jobs over the past year. Tech manufacturers have shed 400 jobs as companies such as JDSU and Tellabs downsized, and TriVascular closed its Santa Rosa location."

"Retailers have lost 200 jobs over the past year, primarily at grocery stores, and restaurants have cut 300 jobs.Temporary employment agencies, which serve an array of industries, have shed 300 jobs."

'“It is not the year 2005, when things were wildly good, probably too good,” said Ben Stone, executive director of the Sonoma County Economic Development Board. “There has been an adjustment; I wouldn’t call it a recession.”'

"Sonoma County business executives are planning to spend less money on upgrades or expansions, Stone said, citing a survey by the board."

“Confidence is down, so they are not going to be hiring people. They might be letting people go,” Stone said."

"Friday’s report shows that 5,500 Sonoma County residents have left the labor force in the past year. There were 253,900 Sonoma County residents working or actively looking for work last month, down 2.1 percent from a year ago. However, the report does not indicate whether they have moved out of the county or stopped looking for work."

'“People might be moving back to Silicon Valley, because Silicon Valley is quite healthy right now,” Cochrane said. “For some reason people are exiting the labor force in Sonoma County.”'