In Silicon Valley, the Jobs Picture Has Changed

Is this a new trend in NYT writing? This is the second article I have seen that ended abruptly after a few paragraphs without ever delivering what the headline appeared to promise. We're in a downturn, so one expects the article to talk about it -- and yet, it only talks about the results of the 2001 downturn, and in vague terms. This is why there is potential for good new players to supplant the MSM.

Here is the BLS report: http://www.bls.gov/opub/regional_reports/200908_silicon_vall...

For non-subscribers: http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/0...

Michael Malone argues that this is not as rosy a picture as the BLS suggests see http://pajamasmedia.com/edgelings/2009/08/14/the-myth-of-val...

I took at quick look at BLS data just for Santa Clara county at http://www.bls.gov/cew/data.htm selecting all industries, all private firms for 2001 to 2008 (years that data is available). In that time frame private employment peaked at 955,067 in March of 2001 and declines 20% to 763,233 in March of 2003 with low point occurring January 2004 at 738,589 (a 22.66% drop in total employment) for a loss of 216,748 jobs. December 2008 estimates are 807,648 total private jobs in Santa Clara County which which still represents a loss of 147,419 jobs or 15.5% from the March 2001 high water mark.