April Jobs Report

The headline is California unemployment declines two-tenths to 11%, but that is just noise. Payroll jobs declined over 60,000, another big drop.

Stockton posted a very normal, average April, and that certainly qualifies as good these days.

Most of the Valley showed a normal seasonal increase in farm jobs, even Fresno. Fresno farm jobs are now up 4%, while private non-farm jobs are down 4%.

Year to year job declines in San Francisco and Silicon Valley now both exceed 4%, a big change for these areas that were the last to fall into recession.

Sacramento still looks like the sickest metro economy in the region. An abnormally light April layoff in hospitality and recreation is more a reflection of a merciful end to a poor ski season than a sign of a turnaround.