San Jose Metro led the nation in economic growth for 2015!

Out of the 382 metros tracked by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, only 292 saw their economies grow in 2015. Of the 20 largest metros, guess which had the most growth.

The San Jose Metro grew its economy by an incredible 8.9% last year. This is miles away from the next city which is Houston at 4.6%. For all the buzz San Francisco got, they grew their economy by 4.1% last year, less than half of San Jose and putting them fifth on the list. New York barely made a dent at 1.7%.

What is even more impressive is that if you look at ALL 382 metros, including the smaller ones where it is easier to have big economic swings, San Jose still had the 2nd fastest growing economy in the US. Only Midland, TX with a population of 140k had a faster rate of growth.

The bubble chart below the grid shows economic performance versus the size of the metro (larger bubble = more population). San Jose is still performing like a fast-growing startup (hot small city) despite the fact the metro has 2 million people.

To paraphrase a Twain quote: the reports of Silicon Valley's death are greatly exaggerated. Every economy in the US would love to be where San Jose is today.

Source: CNBC, Hillrise from the San Jose Development Forum

Saturday Stats: San Jose has the highest density of computer and math-related jobs

The fact that San Jose is #1 in this stat should not surprise anyone. However, the gap between San Jose and any other city in the US when it comes to computer and math occupations is quite amazing. For every 1,000 jobs in San Jose, 124.9 of them are related to computers or math. This compares to just 78.9 in San Francisco, 76.6 in Seattle, 32.8 in New York, and 64.5 in Austin.

The chart below compares each city to the national average. A rating of 4.3 means San Jose has 4.3 times the national average of computer and math jobs. For stats on other types of jobs, hit the source link below.

Source: Abodo, Hillrise from the San Jose Development Forum

Saturday Stats: San Jose has the 4th highest percentage of upper class residents in the US

The Pew Research center conducted a study to see how income classes have changed over time in 229 US metros. Part of the study was highlighting the 10 metros with the largest percentage of upper-income populations. "Upper income" was defined by being more than double the US median household income relative to the national average cost of living. That means that very expensive areas are adjusted downward. Despite this, the San Jose metro can in 4th on the list, with 31% of the population considered upper class and a median household income of $187,390. San Francisco was 9th on the list with 28% of residents considered upper class and a median income of $185,290.

However, I would argue that if you have a household income of $187,390 in Silicon Valley, you are not wealthy and most likely in the upper middle-class bracket based on purchasing power. Likely you are not living in an extravagant house or enjoying a lavish lifestyle. If you have kids and a mortgage, you might barely be getting by. Check out the source link below for the top 10 list and more details.

Source: Business Insider, hat tip to Barclay Livker for sending this in!

Silicon Valley unemployment plummets to a 10-year low

I keep talking about an impending slowdown, yet stats like these continue to slap that notion in the face. In May our unemployment level hit a 10-year low with a rate of only 3.4%. In May 2015 that figure was already exceptional at 4.2% and even April 2016 was higher at 3.7%. To put that 3.4% figure in perspective, the whole state of California is performing well right now and the average California unemployment rate is 5.2%.

A total of 5,800 jobs were added to the San Jose Metro between April and May 2016. That brings us up to 1,083,100 jobs. Now some potentially bad news--most of the gains were in professional/business services, leisure and hospitality, and financial services. We lost 400 tech jobs, which tend to have the highest salaries. The positive spin is that our economy is diversifying, which would help weather any future dips in the tech sector.

Source: SVBJ

Saturday Stats: Silicon Valley unemployment drops even further

Despite signs that the economy might be slowing down, unemployment somehow is continuing to drop. The San Jose metro has reached a ridiculously low 3.7% unemployment rate this April. This is down from 3.9% in the previous month and 4.1% a year ago. It's starting to feel a lot like 1999.

Statewide, 1,800 IT jobs were lost in April. In the San Jose metro, 400 were added in April. Clearly we're still doing something right. Hopefully we can maintain these stats for a while longer.

Source: SVBJ

Two new coworking spaces coming to San Jose

Not one, but two new coworking spaces are coming to San Jose! Coworking allows entrepreneurs and small companies to lease a small amount of space in a shared office space with access to resources needed to run a business. Some come with cool perks like free popcorn and happy hours. However, what is really important to us is that these coworking establishments bring entrepreneurial talent into the San Jose ecosystem, where companies will hopefully decide to stay as they grow.

Downtown San Jose currently has two coworking offices that I'm aware of, NextSpace and Pacific Workplaces. The two new ones coming in though are quite a bit larger and will add a combined 105,000 SQFT of coworking space into the mix.

WeWork is the market leader of the coworking world. They are worth over $15 billion and have dozens of offices around the world. They are grabbing 75,000 SQFT across four whole floors at 75 E. Santa Clara Street. This is the same complex where the San Jose Mercury News is located. The building also happens to be just a few blocks away from the new San Jose Patent Office, a very nice luxury few entrepreneurs across the US can claim. WeWork is also going to put a sign on top of the high-rise and paint one side to bring the building to life with cool imagery.

Regus is bringing 30,000 SQFT of co-working to Tisch Tower, a 12-story building behind Santana Row. This will be the first west coast launch of Regus' "Spaces" concept, which is targeted at creatives and startups. Once those startups grow up, there will be plenty of room available in the area since Santana Row is planning to add at least 500,000 SQFT of office space.

Creating more collaborative office spaces that attract entrepreneurs could only help both our economy and reputation as an innovation leader.

Source: SVBJ, SVBJ (2)

San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce announces unprecedented partnership with SJSU Career Center

San Jose State University's Career Center has been able to offer more job opportunities to SJSU students thanks to a new partnership with The San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber is playing matchmaker and helping local companies access the newest talent coming into the Silicon Valley labor pool. The benefits work both ways as 300 new organizations have been attracted to the Chamber of Commerce over the past three months because of the new partnership. It's a win-win situation that will benefit both students and employers in the Valley. For all the details check out the press release below.

San Jose, Calif.—In a continued effort to grow the local and regional economy, the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce has partnered with San Jose State University’s Career Center to create an opportunity for employers to find qualified candidates for open positions.

The partnership, a first of its kind, offers Silicon Valley businesses direct access to industry/academic partnerships, recruitment opportunities, and affordable talent acquisition services to help develop their first internship program or to fill open employment opportunities. SJSV Chamber members also gain discounted access to staffing and recruiting services by the SJSU Career Center via the only known university staffing agency in the U.S.: SJSU Spartan Staffing.

The SJSV Chamber and SJSU deploy a cross referral process upon registering with each organization, connecting businesses, non-profits, and government entities directly to each institution.


“As the region’s largest business organization, it is vital that we provide our members and the greater business community with the connections, information, resources and tools they need to be successful.  The San Jose State Career Center is the perfect partnership for us creating a direct pipeline between the business community and the talent pool that keeps our economy thriving.”
- Matthew R. Mahood, San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce President & CEO


After the first three months, this partnership has attracted and referred more than 300 organizations to the Chamber, allowing members the opportunity to sustain and grow their business by hiring an intern, part-time or full-time candidate through SJSU.

As a result of the partnership, SJSU has connected approximately 250 Silicon Valley organizations to services and resources to assist them in filling internships and jobs in technology, business, government, education, architecture and design, nonprofit, and various other sectors.


“As the leading supplier of talent to Silicon Valley, and a global access point for companies around the world, we understand the importance of industry collaboration. Our students and alumni provide the practical intelligence and entrepreneurial attitude that continues to make Silicon Valley a global hub of innovation. We are proud of our partnership with the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce; it’s a natural fit for us. Providing organization cross-referrals, recruitment and staffing solutions, while collaborating with local community initiatives are creative systems that will serve our student, employer, and community needs.” 
-        Dr. Reginald S. Blaylock, Vice President for Student Affairs, San José State University


SJSU refers jobs and internships to the SJSV Chamber for the Opportunity Youth Partnership and San Jose Works Initiatives; SJSU has referred 10,000+ jobs and internships in the past six months.

About the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce
The San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit business association representing nearly 1,500 employers and 250,000 employees throughout the greater Silicon Valley. Its mission is to create a strong local economy, provide premier business connections and visibility, represent the interests of business to government, promote the community and initiate political and community action.

About San Jose State University
The founding campus of the 23-campus California State University system, San Jose State provides a comprehensive university education, granting bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in 134 areas of study with 110 concentrations – offered through its eight colleges.

With more than 33,000 students and nearly 4,370 employees, San Jose State continues to be an essential partner in the economic, cultural and social development of Silicon Valley and the state, annually contributing more than 7,000 graduates to the workforce.

The university is immensely proud of the accomplishments of its more than 220,000 alumni, 60 percent of whom live and work in the Bay Area.

Robots Less Likely to Replace San Jose Jobs

There have been several reports floating around claiming that robots are going to make a large number of jobs obsolete. The unfortunate reality is that those reports are likely correct. However, there is a silver lining.

San Jose will feel less of an impact on the robot uprising than other cities. Why is that? Skilled labor is the least likely to be replaced in the immediate future, and that is exactly where most of San Jose's jobs lie. A secondary, almost ironic reason is that San Jose area companies are most likely to be the ones designing and developing robot hardware and software. In this context, our region might end up becoming one of the largest beneficiaries of these upcoming changes.

Source: SVBJ

Robot at Orchard Supply in San Jose

Saturday Stats: 18% of New California Jobs in October Went to the San Jose Metro

I'm sure you have been noticing a bit more traffic on the road over the last few months. The Bay Area economy is surging, and the San Jose Metro is leading the pack. There were a grand total of 41,200 jobs added to the California economy last month. 7,600 were in the Santa Clara County. Despite making up only 5% of California's population, San Jose landed 18% of the state's new jobs. San Francisco and San Mateo combined gained 4,600 jobs and the East Bay scored 3,400 jobs.

Of those new 7,600 jobs in the San Jose Metro, 2,300 were high-paying tech jobs. Now would be a good time to focus additional investment into infrastructure, we're going to need it.

Source: SVBJ 

Saturday Stats: San Jose has the Most Future-Ready Economy in the Nation

At the 2015 Strategic Innovation Summit held by Harvard University and Dell, San Jose was proclaimed as the most future-ready economy in the country. Their definition of a future-ready economy is one that has sustainable economic output and growth potential. There are three key attributes that the study looked for:

1.) Human capital, or people equipped with the right skills to drive meaningful social and economic change.
2.) Commerce from sustainable business opportunities to continue improving entire economies for year to come. This includes collaboration, such as the formation of public-private partnerships.
3.) Infrastructure prepared to support people, businesses, and technology needed to drive growth and change.

San Jose scored well above average when it comes to human capital, having strong salaries, educational achievements, and by far the highest number of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) occupations per capita. San Jose also nailed it on commerce, having a collaborative and innovation-driven economy. Where we lost some big points was with infrastructure, particularly traffic congestion and poor public transit. Despite that, we still took the top position in the study with San Francisco coming in second and Washington DC in 3rd place.

Source: Dell, SJ Economy Newsletter

Top 25 Future Ready Economies

1. San Jose, CA
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Washington, DC
4. Boston, MA
5. Austin, TX
6. Raleigh, NC
7. Seattle, WA
8. Denver, CO
9. Portland, OR
10. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
11. New York, NY
12. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
13. Houston, TX
14. Atlanta, GA
15. Charlotte, NC
16. San Diego, CA
17. Chicago, IL
18. Louisville, KY
19. Salt Lake City, UT
20. Des Moines, IA
21. Los Angeles, CA
22. Pittsburgh, PA
23. Kansas City, MO
24. Columbus, OH
25. Philadelphia, PA

Saturday Stats: Even After Cost of Living Adjustments, San Jose Pay is Still #1

Most people know that San Jose salaries are the highest in the country. Another well known fact is that our cost of living is also one of the highest in the country. So the big question is whether our high cost of living negates our high salaries. According to the latest stats from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics the answer is... No.

The average pay in San Jose is $75,770 per year, #1 in the country. To put that in perspective, the average pay for the #2 city on the list (San Francisco) is $64,990. 

After you factor in cost of living, San Jose's average pay drops to $62,110, which is still enough for it to be the #1 highest-paying city in the country. San Francisco drops to $53,580, bringing it all the way down to #9 on the list. Durham ended up being the city closest to San Jose in the #2 spot with an average pay of $58,780 after factoring in the cost of living adjustments.

So there you have it. Even after factoring in sky-high rents and other expenses, we are still better off salary-wise than the rest of the country.

Source: SVBJ

Saturday Stats: San Jose's Economic Growth is #1 in the Bay Area

Of all the cities in the country with more than 300,000 residents, San Jose came in 7th in terms of economic growth between 2008 and 2014. In the Bay Area, San Jose was king of the castle. Oakland came in 13th place and San Francisco was 15th.

Metrics included income growth, unemployment rate decrease, and housing prices. I should also note that this study was for individual cities and not metro areas, making the results even more impressive.

For mid-sized cities of 100,000-300,000 residents, Santa Clara, Fremont, and Sunnyvale make the top 10. For cities under 100,000 residents, Milpitas, Mountain View, and Redwood City were in the top 15.

Source: SVBJ

Google Eyeing North San Jose!

First Apple, and now Google. Momentum is quickly building in North San Jose for anchor tech companies! With little room to grow in Mountain View, Google has finally decided to consider office space in San Jose.

The company is planning to start with about 150,000 SQFT. If things go well, I would not be surprised if they expanded. North San Jose has millions and maybe even tens of millions of SQFT worth of potential office development. The SiliconBeat article also references the BART extension in Milpitas and Berryessa as one of the reasons why the North San Jose office market will get hotter over time. Completely agree. BART is going to be a huge amenity for East Bay commuters that Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Cupertino will not have easy access to.

Source: SiliconBeat

Saturday Stats: San Jose Metro has Nation's Strongest Job Market!

The South Bay has the strongest job market in the US based on a new government report. In the 12 month period that ended in July, total payroll employment increased by 6.2%, giving us the fastest growing job market by a huge margin. Tacoma came in second at 5% job growth, while the San Francisco and Salt Lake City metros were tried for third at 4.4%. The East Bay did not rank in the top 10 and had a gain of 2.2%.

To add more color on this data, over the last year 60,400 jobs were added in the San Jose Metro. Half of them were high-tech jobs (presumably with high salaries). We're not just adding tons of jobs, we're adding tons of great jobs.

Source: Siliconbeat

San Jose State University is Beating Out Elite Schools for Tech Jobs

A recent CBS report reveals that getting hired at a high-paying Silicon Valley tech company does not require a degree from an "elite" school. In fact, Silicon Valley companies are hiring more San Jose State University alums than any other college or university. As an example, SJSU topped both Stanford and Cal for the most alums working at Apple.

What is the secret of the university's success? SJSU students have a reputation for getting stuff done. You can sit around and talk about a problem all day, or you can get your hands dirty and fix it. I imagine the prestigious schools spending more time teaching their students about theory and planning versus execution. Plus, many SJSU students are already working while studying, and nothing beats real-world experience.

The word is starting to get around. SJSU enrollment is up to 33,000 students this year, and many of them are coming internationally from countries like India. The University is building a global brand and an outstanding reputation, something that will benefit San Jose and our local economy for generations!

Source: CBS, Big hat tip to Dan De La O for sending this in!

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the Second Best City for Summer Jobs

Based on metrics such as job growth, availability of part-time employment, and summer activities, the San Jose metro was ranked as the second best city for summer jobs. There are nearly 400 service sector positions currently available in San Jose, and you can't beat the weather or the variety of festivals and activities we have throughout the summer.

Denver was at the top of the list, while my two favorite competitors (San Francisco and New York City) did not rank in the top 10.

Source: ZipRecruiter

Saturday Stats: San Jose Metro is the Hottest Job Market in the US

According to new government statistics, the annual growth rates for total payroll jobs in Santa Clara County are up a staggering 6.1% year-over-year. This makes it by far the largest percentage gain in the country. The only metro that even came close was San Francisco/San Mateo, which posted a 4.9% gain. 3rd place was Orlando at 4.3% followed by Riverside up 4.1% and finally Dallas rounding out the top 5 at 4.1%.

Source: Siliconbeat

Saturday Stats: San Jose Metro Tops Nation For Job Opportunities

According to a new annual survey by Glassdoor, the San Jose Metro came in #1 in the country for job opportunities! San Jose has a total of 51,439 job openings and a median base salary of $99,000.  The best part is that wasn't the only job related statistic we scored high in. We ranked #2 when it comes to job satisfaction.

After aggregating all of the metrics, our overall job ranking was #7 out of the largest 50 metros in the US. We were brought down by having the 5th lowest cost of living in the survey. My question is which are the metros with a higher cost of living? I'm surprised we weren't at the very bottom of the list.

While the cost of living is high, the sheer number of opportunities, high salaries, amazing weather, and great people more than make up for it.

Source: Glassdoor, SiliconBeat

San Jose Ranks as #1 Place for Tech Jobs in 2015!

In what should come as little surprise, San Jose was ranked as the top metro in the US for tech jobs. NerdWallet took a look at the largest 370 metro areas and analyzed the number of tech jobs for every 1,000 employees in the metro, the annual mean salary, and the median cost-of-living. Despite astronomical housing costs, San Jose took 1st place by a mile.

San Jose had far and away the greatest number of tech jobs per 1,000 employees (126.27) as well as the largest average tech salary in the country ($130k). San Francisco--despite including tech-heavy San Mateo and Redwood City--only managed 6th place. New York came in 67th.

To see the full list, head over to the source link below.

Source: NerdWallet

BAE Moving to South San Jose

A huge tenant is coming to South San Jose and bring with it 500 or so jobs. BAE Systems currently has their US headquarters in Santa Clara on Coleman Ave. That site is going to be demolished soon in order to make way for the Coleman Highline office project, forcing BAE to move elsewhere.

The new BAE headquarters will be at 6331 and 6311 San Ignacio Ave., blocks away from Lightrail and Highway 85. There is also a substantial residential population in the area... hundreds of thousands of people live within a five mile radius.

Needless to say, this deal is a big financial win for San Jose. The company will bring a solid amount of tax dollars and high-paying engineering jobs to our city, as well as either a short or reverse commute for most of its employees. For more details, hit the source link below!

Source: SVBJ