Office of Economic Analysis
Economic Barometer
About the Economic Barometer:
The purpose of the Economic Barometer is to provide the public, elected officials, and City staff with a current snapshot of San Francisco economic indicators. The Economic Barometer reviews general economy-wide employment indicators, as well as major sectors of the City's economy, including real estate and tourism.
Issuance of the Economic Barometer will be on quarterly basis. Indicators will be updated at sfbarometer.weebly.com, which will include data visualizations of the economic indicators along with a PDF of the quarterly summary. Data on the website will be updated throughout the quarter as it becomes available.
Highlights:
Program Team:
For more information, contact:
Ted Egan, Chief Economist
(415) 554-5268
ted.egan@sfgov.org
Asim Khan, Principal Economist
(415) 554-5369
asim.khan@sfgov.org
The purpose of the Economic Barometer is to provide the public, elected officials, and City staff with a current snapshot of San Francisco economic indicators. The Economic Barometer reviews general economy-wide employment indicators, as well as major sectors of the City's economy, including real estate and tourism.
Issuance of the Economic Barometer will be on quarterly basis. Indicators will be updated at sfbarometer.weebly.com, which will include data visualizations of the economic indicators along with a PDF of the quarterly summary. Data on the website will be updated throughout the quarter as it becomes available.
Highlights:
- The city’s jobless rate (seasonally adjusted) remained unchanged at 4.4% in October, which is the lowest level since April 2008. The average unemployment rate for the city during the third quarter of 2014 was 4.4%, down from 4.6% in the second quarter. The third quarter rate remains the lowest since the first quarter of 2008.
- Across the San Francisco metropolitan division (including Marin and San Mateo counties), the Construction industry experienced the fastest year-over-year employment growth of 9.4% in October 2014. Other fast-growing industries include Professional and Business Services (5.9%), Information (5.7%), and Leisure and Hospitality (4.4%).
- Several key indicators of the City’s real estate market continue to exhibit strong commercial demand. Average commercial Class A asking rents rose to $63.5 per square foot in the third quarter, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. This represents a 28% increase above the pre-recession peak established in 2008.
- The residential real estate market also remains among the hottest in the nation on the heels of strong job market performance. Combination of strong housing demand and tight supply continue to put pressure upward pressure on home prices. Median home prices reached close to a million dollars in October. Average asking rents rose to $3,400 in the third quarter of 2014, up from $3,229 in the second quarter and compared to $3,096 a year ago (a 9.8% increase).
Program Team:
For more information, contact:
Ted Egan, Chief Economist
(415) 554-5268
ted.egan@sfgov.org
Asim Khan, Principal Economist
(415) 554-5369
asim.khan@sfgov.org
