Alaska • California • Hawaii • Oregon • Washington
The largest markets for electrical products in this region — Los Angeles and Southern California, San Diego, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Seattle and Portland, Ore. — are still fairly deep in recession with unemployment rates over the national average. Because of their massive influence on the U.S. economy as a whole, until these MSAs recover, the country won't bust out of the recession. While the housing numbers for all of these markets are still forgettable, there are some sizeable commercial, institutional and industrial projects underway. This region is home to two of the largest hotel projects now being built: the $224.5 million Thunder Valley Hotel in Lincoln, Calif., near Sacramento; and the 1,200,000-square-foot Disney Hawaii Resort in Kapolei, Hawaii. Stanford University is in the middle of a $209.2 million expansion; Kaiser Permanente has approximately $1 billion in hospital projects underway in the Golden State; the Army is building a $563 million hospital at Camp Pendleton, Calif.; and there's a 276,000-square-foot hospital job underway in Salem, Ore.
EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS
Actual Electricians
in thousands
M
G
C
Pacific
87,190
1,788.0
3,425.3
11,822.5
Alaska
2,150
21.7
78.8
178.2
Anchorage, AK
1,140
2.3
32.4
107.1
Fairbanks, AK
320
0.7
11.6
20.0
California
58,670
1,313.2
2,410.3
8,640.7
Bakersfield, CA
1,770
13.2
58.5
116.9
Chico, CA
220
4.3
17.4
43.9
El Centro, CA
200
2.7
18.3
18.8
Fresno, CA
1,360
25.5
65.4
159.6
Hanford-Corcoran, CA
70
4.4
15.7
13.7
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metro Division
11,850
398.8
582.5
2,392.7
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
18,490
562.1
737.6
3,303.3
Madera-Chowchilla, CA
70
3.7
10.1
17.0
Merced, CA
160
9.2
13.1
25.6
Modesto, CA
770
23.4
25.5
83.3
Napa, CA
360
11.0
10.2
32.5
Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA Metro Division
4,090
87.8
169.0
586.3
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
750
33.5
39.2
165.9
Redding, CA
220
2.6
12.1
36.9
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
5,170
93.9
217.0
634.7
Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA
4,390
36.0
232.9
472.6
Salinas, CA
350
5.7
32.1
72.5
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA
6,250
94.9
217.3
790.9
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
7,760
128.4
301.2
1,259.8
San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metro Division
3,670
40.6
132.2
673.5
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
4,230
155.6
95.9
533.1
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA
380
6.2
22.7
58.3
Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA Metro Division
6,640
163.3
155.1
910.6
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, CA
870
13.1
35.7
101.9
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA
190
5.4
20.4
53.4
Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA
960
20.0
26.2
104.6
Stockton, CA
940
21.0
38.1
104.0
Vallejo-Fairfield, CA
440
9.0
25.9
68.2
Visalia-Porterville, CA
470
10.8
29.2
52.4
Yuba City, CA
100
2.2
10.6
20.5
Hawaii
2,700
14.2
120.6
381.3
Honolulu, HI
1,930
11.2
93.8
273.8
Oregon
7,460
168.9
283.5
956.4
Bend, OR
410
4.7
8.2
46.9
Corvallis, OR
90
3.4
11.0
15.4
Eugene-Springfield, OR
520
13.8
27.5
87.5
Medford, OR
510
6.4
10.0
50.6
Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA
4,700
111.4
140.6
582.8
Salem, OR
730
12.4
40.0
74.7
Washington
16,210
270.0
532.1
1,665.9
Bellingham, WA
630
8.0
14.5
31.7
Bremerton-Silverdale, WA
1,010
1.9
28.1
27.1
Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, WA
610
6.7
17.1
55.4
Longview, WA
150
6.1
5.5
15.4
Mount Vernon-Anacortes,WA
570
4.9
10.7
12.6
Olympia, WA
400
3.2
36.5
33.5
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA Metropolitan Division
6,680
158.2
199.2
863.8
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
8,850
176.8
257.0
1,019.0
Spokane, WA
1,190
16.5
33.0
128.9
Tacoma, WA Metropolitan Division
2,170
18.6
57.8
155.2
Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA
270
1.4
9.0
18.1
Yakima, WA
220
7.9
16.9
34.4
Metro areas are metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) unless otherwise noted.
Metro Div. — Metropolitan Division NECTA — New England city and town area NA — Not available
Electrician employment for May 2008 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
M — Manufacturing employees for July 2009. Source: Current Employment Statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
C — Commercial account employees (professional and business services, retail trade, financial activities, educational and health services, leisure and hospitality, and other services) for July 2009. Source: Current Employment Statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
G — Government employees for July 2009. Source: Current Employment Statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
By Jim Lucy, Chief Editor, and Kristin Letourneau, Ph. D., Associate Director of Market Research for Penton Media Use this guide to calculate market share and evaluate new markets...
