Bay Area Reaches Peak Employment, Yet Some Remain Unemployed

SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) -- A new state report declares the Bay Area is "at full employment," but some people are still unemployed.

The unemployment rate is 2.9 percent in San Mateo County and San Francisco counties, 3 percent in Marin county and less than 4 percent in Santa Clara and Alameda counties.

But there are some people that have slipped through the cracks and are still unemployed.

Also lots of the employment growth has come from the hospitality sector which doesn't pay much.

To put the report's findings in perspective, we have to go all the way back to the first dot com boom of 2000, when Pets.com and Webvan.com were all the rage.

That time period used to be the benchmark of good times.

But now?

Janice Shriver, a labor analyst for the state, says we have more jobs now than at any other time in history in the Bay Area.

Shriver says we are in what's called "peak employment," where virtually anyone who is willing and able to work, is working, across practically all industries.

Shriver said, "It runs the gamut, really. There are lots, lots, of jobs if you want to work."

Here are the Bay Area's biggest job gains, by industry and region, year over year.

In the San Jose metro area, it was professional and business services that have seen the biggest job gains year over year.

Meanwhile, the Oakland metro area has seen a rise in jobs in private education and health services.

And the San Francisco metro area had strong job growth in trade, transportation, and utilities.

It's important to note, in the past month there's been a rise in hospitality jobs, many of which are lower-paid, part-time positions.

Henry Lo is a Bay Area job-seeker and he says he's confident he'll find a job.

Lo was just let go from his job at Home Depot a month ago.

A stroke left him wheelchair-bound at 66-years-old.

But after hearing the latest jobs report, he says he's sure he'll find something.

"Maybe with this interview, I might find something," Lo said.

Lo has an electrical engineering degree, has trained as a nurse, and spent the past 15 years designing kitchens.