San Francisco Unemployment: Bad, Could Be Worse

​Ah, the monthly Labor Market Info from the California Employment Development Department. It's like an old friend, dependable and reliable. Actually, it's more like that friend you've had since college. And you don't really have anything in common with them anymore, but you feel really bad about cutting off contact with them, so every once a month or so you answer their phone call and you have to go get really drunk with them and in the morning comes the hangover. And regret. That's the kind of friend the monthly Labor Market Info is.

But this time, the friend won some money playing scratchers at 7-11, so he paid for all the drinks, so it wasn't that bad. Because between March and April, jobs in Marin, San Mateo and San Francisco increased by 1,500 for a total of 920,100 jobs. And the unemployment rate for the San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City Metropolitan Division was down from 9.9 percent in March to 9.3 percent in April. Baby steps! (But to put this in perspective, between April of last year and April of this year, the total number jobs decreased by 32,600.)

Most of the jobs gained were in the leisure and hospitality sector, and those jobs were largely in bars. (Probably because so many people did well playing scratchers at 7-11.*) The government netted 600 new jobs, and the technical sector scored 400 jobs. Manufacturing lost 200 and trade, transportation and utilities was the biggest loser with 800 jobs disappearing due to seasonal losses.

Our nearby friends, the Oakland-Fremont-Hayward Metropolitan Divison (PDF), have an unemployment rate of 11.4 percent, down slightly from 11.9 percent in March. If you're into commuting, there appears to be a lot of work in bars over here, people.

*This is pure speculation on our part, as the EDD press releases don't mention how scratcher winnings affect the statistics. YET.