Pacific

This region's many micromarkets are riding out the recession with various degrees of success. With their more diverse business base, San Diego, Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California are faring better than their neighbors to the north in Silicon Valley and San Francisco, which rely much more heavily on tech industries.

The residential market continues to thrive in Southern California, and with office vacancy rates at or below 10 percent, San Diego has the region's healthiest office market. In contrast, downtown construction is dead in San Francisco, and its office vacancy rate is above 20 percent. Up the coast, Oregon's diversification from its historical base in wood products industries to semiconductors and other light industry has helped it weather the storm better than in past recessions. The Seattle market is still suffering from 19,000 layoffs at Boeing.

ELECTRICAL WHOLESALERS' SALES
(in millions of dollars) EW Estimates Final 1998 Final 1999 Final 2000 Final 2001 Forecast 2002 Forecast 2003 Pacific 11,233.6 12,733.2 14,131.5 14,208.8 14,220.1 15,247.4 Alaska 106.4 119.0 132.1 132.8 132.9 142.5 California 9,441.5 10,789.4 11,974.2 12,039.8 12,049.3 12,919.8 Hawaii 132.1 147.7 163.9 164.8 164.9 176.8 Oregon 715.0 775.9 861.1 865.9 866.5 929.1 Washington 838.5 901.2 1,000.2 1,005.6 1,006.4 1,079.1 EMPLOYMENT STATISTICSActual ECin thousands M F/S/RT G Pacific 123,355 2,397.2 10,824.2 3,494.6 Alaska 2,244 12.9 146.8 79.5 Anchorage MSA 1,323 2.3 77.9 30.0 California 93,437 1,825.6 8,090.3 2,486.3 Bakersfield MSA 1,575 12.4 96.2 57.1 Fresno MSA 1,586 31.2 153.0 78.9 Los Angeles-Long Beach PMSA 18,723 588.7 2,228.4 613.2 Modesto MSA 1,058 26.2 78.2 25.0 Oakland PMSA 8,614 116.5 554.9 186.7 Orange County 10,544 219.0 814.3 159.5 Riverside-San Bernardino PMSA 10,160 124.5 528.0 214.3 Sacramento PMSA 5,253 46.6 385.3 196.3 Salinas MSA 595 10.1 71.1 32.6 San Diego MSA 8,475 128.3 722.8 222.0 San Francisco PMSA 5,844 61.1 690.2 134.0 San Jose PMSA 8,205 231.4 525.2 97.6 Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc MSA 924 15.9 95.2 36.2 Santa Rosa PMSA 1,039 30.4 104.5 29.0 Stockton-Lodi MSA 1,356 22.9 96.1 40.5 Vallejo-Fairfield-Napa PMSA 1,412 21.9 95.1 36.7 Ventura PMSA 1,299 41.3 154.1 46.6 Hawaii 2,287 17.9 331.7 123.5 Honolulu MSA 1,744 14.1 238.0 99.3 Oregon 8,690 227.2 848.5 280.9 Eugene-Springfield MSA 795 21.6 78.6 27.4 Medford-Ashland MSA 392 8.6 44.1 11.8 Portland-Vancouver PMSA 6,237 136.9 517.8 131.1 Salem PMSA 697 15.5 66.4 40.2 Washington 16,856 313.6 1,406.9 524.4 Seattle-Bellevue-Everett PMSA 8,384 179.7 743.5 201.5 Spokane MSA 1,694 18.2 111.6 34.2 Tacoma PMSA 2,343 21.4 130.8 54.0 NA — Not available
MSA—Metropolitan Statistical Area
PMSA — Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area
CMSA — Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area
EC — Electrical contractor employees. Actual numbers.
M — Manufacturing employees in thousands.
F/S/RT — Commercial accounts (finance, services, retail trade) employees in thousands.
G — Government employees in thousands.