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The Newsletter: Some perspective on high-tech employment By Stephen Dunphy / Times staff columnist
The Seattle Times
July 17, 2003
Some perspective on high-tech employment in the region from the Puget Sound Regional Council, a broad-based group that looks at regional issues such as transportation. The council makes the often overlooked point — despite losses since 2001, high-tech employment has had huge increases over time.
From March 2001 to March 2002, the region saw almost 15,000 high-tech jobs disappear, about a 10 percent change. Tech employment went from an estimated 148,864 in March 2001 to 133,869 in March 2002.
But go back to 1995 and see what happens. High-tech employment then stood at 83,919 and was on the verge of huge growth. By 2001, the number had swelled more than 77 percent to 148,864. Here's the kicker and the reason why some parts of the economy don't seem so bad.
Despite big losses, the high-tech employment sector is still 59.5 percent higher than it was in 1995. In March 2002, the software sector was still 111.2 percent higher than in 1995. The "computer related" sector was 115.8 percent higher than in 1995. There has not been much growth in those sectors since last year, but neither has there been any sharp declines.
The Small Business Administration made 2,519 small-business loans valued at $509.8 million in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska for the third quarter of fiscal 2003, translating into 3,232 new jobs and 1,692 jobs preserved, according to the agency.
Some studies have shown that small business creates almost two-thirds of the new jobs in the economy. The figures suggest small businesses are again leading the nation in job growth and economic recovery.
List keeping, wealth division: Several local companies score fairly well among top managers for wealthy people, according to a survey by Bloomberg Wealth Manager, a bimonthly publication aimed at financial advisers.
The survey showed that top wealth managers in Bloomberg's third annual review survived the recent shocks to the stock market fairly well, continuing to attract new investors. Median assets under management among the 370 firms checked rose to $96.7 million, up 11.3 percent.
Tyee Asset Management, Seattle, was the best local adviser, finishing a very respectable 11th overall. Other top 50 rankings include Brighton Jones, Seattle, 31st, and Coldstream Capital Management, Bellevue, 41st.
Any economic expansion that existed in the Western states has slowed in recent months, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco reports. After climbing back to positive territory in late 2002 and peaking in early 2003, growth has taken a turn for the worse in recent months, especially in California.
The report comes in Western Economic Developments, a quarterly publication of the bank and the district it covers. The 12th District encompasses nine Western states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
Arizona, Nevada and Utah have seen modest expansions, the report said, but those have been offset by weakness in California and the continued slump in Oregon and Washington. Northern California continues to get the worst of it — between 2001 and last month, the Bay Area lost 9.2 percent of jobs, or a loss of 340,000 positions. Overall employment in the entire 12th District was off only 1.4 percent.
Stephen H. Dunphy's columns appear Tuesdays-Fridays and Sundays. E-mail: sdunphy@seattletimes.com
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