East Bay Companies Still Shedding Jobs

In a quarterly survey of East Bay businesses commissioned by the Bay Area Council, 35% of respondents in Contra Costa/Solano County and 27% of respondents in Alameda County said they expect to cut jobs in the next six months. Those were the two worst results in the Bay Area.

The economy in the Bay Area as a whole appears to be picking up, or at least possibly hitting a bottom.

Business Confidence Index for the Bay Area improved to a mark of 53 out of 100 in November, according to the survey results released today. That was up from a reading of 47 in August. An index reading that exceeds 50 signals economic growth, while a reading below 50 signals contraction.

“It looks like we have finally hit rock bottom and are now looking up,” said Jim Wunderman, president of the Bay Area Council, which commissioned the quarterly survey of area chief executives.

Still, a painful job market will afflict Bay Area residents, the survey found. Over the coming six months, 23 percent of Bay Area companies plan to reduce their staffing levels, while 18 percent anticipate they will add jobs, the November survey found.

In the August results, 26 percent of Bay Area companies were planning to cut jobs, while 14 percent intended to expand staffing levels.

One strong market: Santa Clara County, where 19 percent of the employers plan to reduce jobs, and 24 percent plan to add jobs.

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This is obviously not good news, but it’s better than what we have seen for the past few years. The East Bay economy overall is struggling to find its footing but, perhaps, it may be finding the ground a little more solid beneath its feet. With the wider Bay Area economy looking up, the East Bay economy should benefit. And the Tri-Valley cities of Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin, and San Ramon are certainly impacted directly by Silicon Valley, which is expected to be the engine that drives the Bay Area into recovery.

Source: Contra Costa Times