Preliminary July labor force data counts for San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties puts the unemployment rate at 9.9%, 8.2% and 9.0% respectively, up 0.1 percentage points for San Francisco and San Mateo and up 0.2 percentage points in Marin from June.
The 9.9% unemployment rate for San Francisco represents a new 25 year high.
The number of unemployed in San Francisco increased by 700 from 44,100 to 44,800 in July while the number of employed increased by 3,500 (from 405,800 to 409,300) as the labor force increased by 4,200 (from 449,900 to 454,100).
According to the State of California versus the Labor Department, overall California unemployment has broken through the 12 percent mark (12.1% percent in July).
∙ Monthly Labor Force Data for Counties: July 2009 (Preliminary) [EDD]
∙ San Francisco County Unemployment Jumps To 9.8 Percent In June [SocketSite]
∙ It’s Funny What Happens When People Are Forced To Sell, They Do [SocketSite]
Surprising data. Really big one month increase in the labor force – most of whom found jobs.
Looks like a few thousand workers packed up and decided to move to SF last month!
in government statistics, how do they know who is in the labor pool and who is not in the labor pool?
ie. “The number of unemployed in San Francisco increased by 700… as the labor force increased by 4,200”.
there’s hard data to show that 3,500 people were added to payrolls, but how did they know that 4,200 entered the job market?
They do a telephone survey. “Are you employed.” If Not, “are you looking for a job”
My guess is a lot of the increase in the labor force was probably from people who graduated college without securing a job, realized it was hopeless after a search in the spring, took two months off and went traveling, and then in August started looking for a job. If you called them last month, they said they weren’t looking (if you could reach them at all), if you called this month, they said they were looking for a job.
“then in August started looking for a job”
and finding them, of course…
As SS noted, July numbers are preliminary (the June numbers are revised). Furthermore, these numbers are not seasonally adjusted, so looking at monthly changes means little. YOY, July 2008 (revised) vs. July 2009 (prelim) shows an increase in the number of unemployed from 25.5K to 44.8K (unem. % rate from 5.8 to 9.9)in SF County.
Hi tipster,
i’ve heard of the telephone survey theory but i’ve never heard of anyone who has actually been called which made me curious.
Hi tipster,
i’ve heard of the telephone survey theory but i’ve never heard of anyone who has actually been called which made me curious.
condoshopper: The survey isn’t a theory.
This is how it is done:
http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm