”Survey says” looks at various rankings and scorecards judging geographic locations while noting these grades are best seen as a mix of artful interpretation and data.
Buzz: Jobs in Napa grew 6.9% in the year ending in January, the nation’s fourth-fastest hiring pace.
Source: My trusty spreadsheet looked at metro employment data at the start of 2023 for 389 metropolitan areas.
Topline
Napa bosses added 4,700 workers in the year to 72,900. Napa’s unemployment rate was 3.9%, down 0.9 points in the year.
Only two Texas metros – Midland (11.4% job growth) and Odessa (7.8%) – and Manhattan, Kansas (7.3%) had faster hiring paces in January.
Metros adding the most jobs over 12 months included New York (375,200), Dallas (234,100), Los Angeles-Orange County (218,400), Houston (152,900) and Chicago (122,400).
Details
California bosses added 594,500 workers statewide in the 12 months ending in January, up 3.5% to a near-record 17.77 million. Only Texas (668,000) added more workers nationwide.
The cooling economy and many employers restoring pre-pandemic staffing levels have slowed hiring. California job growth was 8.5% in January 2022.
California bosses also are challenged to find talent. Statewide unemployment was 4.6%, down 1 percentage point in the year.
Bottom line
Napa’s success is part of a somewhat odd California trend: Despite layoff news swirling around Silicon Valley and the technology industry, these stats show bosses in Northern California are boosting payrolls at the fastest pace in the state.
When ranking 26 California metropolitan areas for one-year job growth, San Diego was the only Southern California job market in the statewide top 10.
Here’s how 25 metros (excluding Napa) fared, ranked by job growth …
Madera: 4.9% – up 2,000 jobs in a year to 42,900. The unemployment rate was 7.5% in January, down 0.2 percentage points over 12 months.
Yuba City: 4.8% – up 2,300 to 50,400, unemployment 8.1% – down 0.1 points.
Fresno: 4.3%…
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