Bay Area economy on verge of recovery
Bay Area economy on verge of recovery
Even though Bay Area was hit by the recession harder than most metropolitan areas in the U.S., some data suggest that economic output is recovering in a faster pace than in most other metropolitan areas according to studies by the Brookings Institution. The study looked at employment, unemployment rate, wages, housing prices, and industrial output in the 100 biggest U.S. metropolitan areas. The San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont Metropolitan area showed weakness in employment and foreclosures in the first quarter of 2009. 40 percent of all the jobs were lost during that time with 5.31 foreclosures per thousand homes as of March 2009. The positive sign though was noticed at changes in gross metropolitan product where San Francisco Metropolitan Area showed decline by only 0.3 percent, ranked 16 out of 100 metro areas studied. According to Alan Berube, co-author of this report, a rebound in gross metropolitan product in the bay Area may suggest economic recovery of this region.
SF Gate- 06/17/2009