New figures are in from the federal government, and Santa Clara County is creating jobs at a monster pace, leading all of the nation s metro areas by a wide margin.
Over the 12 months that ended in March, total jobs in Santa Clara County grew by 5.5 percent — way ahead of all other metro centers in the United States, according to a new report by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
There is a bucket load full of jobs in the technology sector in Santa Clara County, said Christopher Thornberg, a partner with Beacon Economics. It s crazy growth. The place is on fire.
Santa Clara County was the only major urban center in the country that posted annual job growth at or above 5 percent,
Next closest: the Orlando metro area of Florida, where the job base expanded by 4.6 percent during the one-year stretch that ended in March.
The San Francisco-San Mateo region posted job growth of 4.4 percent over the 12-month period, making that region No. 3 in the nation.
The East Bay posted annual job growth of 2.5 percent, the government survey found.
Over the 12 months that ended in March, Santa Clara County added 53,000 non-farm payroll jobs. Of those, 29,100 were in the technology sector. Professional scientific and technical services added 15,500 jobs, information services and products gained 9,600 and computer and electronics manufacturing added 4,000 jobs.
It s very impressive to see what is happening right now in Santa Clara County, Thornberg said.
A hiring surge at companies such as Google has caused job growth in Santa Clara County to outpace all other metro areas in the nation. (Photo Credit /AFP/Getty Images)