San Joaquin Valley Unemployment in 2009: Fish or Foreclosure?
In a report released today, the Business Forecasting Center reports that construction job losses caused by the foreclosure crisis exceed job losses from Delta water pumping reductions by a ratio of 8 to 1. The foreclosure crisis is by far the main force driving the Valley's economic crisis. The report conservatively estimates that the construction collapse alone has destroyed 47,000 jobs and $1.8 billion in employee compensation across the San Joaquin Valley, compared to a loss of 6,000 jobs and $170 million in employee compensation from reduced water supplies caused by both drought and environmental needs.
The full report can be downloaded at http://forecast.pacific.edu.
The Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific was founded in 2004. Housed in the Eberhardt School of Business, the Center produces research reports on trends and issues shaping the regional economy including a quarterly economic forecast of California and nine metropolitan areas from Sacramento to Fresno and the San Francisco Bay Area.