March 8, 2021, by Richard Pfister


San Francisco Chamber Launches Economic Recovery Dashboard

PRESS RELEASE RE-POSTED FROM SFCHAMBER.COM


The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce has embarked on a major data project to measure San Francisco’s economic health and recovery. The Economic Recovery Data Dashboard provides up-to-date metrics regarding our city’s employment rate, small businesses, restaurants, foot traffic, and housing.


San Francisco, CA - The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Recovery Data Dashboard shows that the accommodations, food services, arts, entertainment and recreation industries have seen the largest drop in employment opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic. These industries have all seen a 50% or more decrease in job postings compared to 2019.

For comparison, the Information Services industry has seen a 13% drop in job postings, and Finance and Insurance industries have seen a 22% drop in job postings.

The current data clearly shows the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on San Francisco small businesses and workers. Another stark indicator of San Francisco’s economic health is the massive drop in the percent of small businesses that are open. Compared to a pre-covid baseline in 2019, small businesses have ranged from an initial decrease of 57% in April to 41% in mid-summer. As of February 10th, the small business open rates are down by 51% compared to 2019.

San Francisco Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, Rodney Fong says, “As we work towards getting our population vaccinated and look towards a future of recovery, we need to understand where San Francisco stands today. It is clear that our small businesses and their workers are still struggling.”

“The job opportunities for our small business, restaurant, and hospitality workers have been the most profoundly impacted,” says Fong. “Our workers are hurting, and as San Francisco moves into the red tier, we hope to see an increase in job opportunities for our workforce. More small businesses open means more jobs for San Franciscans.”

The Economic Recovery Data Dashboard shows that San Francisco has seen historic rates of unemployment during the Pandemic Recession, with a peak of 12.7% unemployment in the summer of 2020. The previous unemployment peak in San Francisco was 9.7% in March 2010.

The data comes from the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce’s “Economic Recovery Data Dashboard,” which launched today. The Data Dashboard provides data trends and visualizations on the economic health of San Francisco. The Data Dashboard tracks unemployment rates, job postings by sector, small business open rates and revenue, seated diners, consumer spending, foot traffic by industry, and home and rent trends. This data is updated monthly and serves as a reliable tool to measure San Francisco’s economic recovery as we move into lower health order tiers and vaccinations increase.

The Economic Recovery Data Dashboard is open to the public. It is the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce’s goal to maintain this database as a resource for local residents, media, and elected officials to better understand the city’s economy.

San Francisco Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, Rodney Fong says, “Our Economic Recovery Data Dashboard will provide real time data that can be used to educate the public about the impact that the pandemic has had on our local economy, and the struggles our small businesses and residents are going through. We hope this can be a tool for the public, media, and city leaders alike.”

Fong goes on further to say, “The data we collected shows that our small business community is struggling to survive throughout this pandemic. We will continue to fight for local, state, and national relief to support our small businesses and their employees.”

The Dashboard - Scroll Frame to View



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