San Francisco Economy 2012
San Francisco is one of the most important cities located in the country California of the U.S. It is situated at the northern edge of San Francisco Peninsula and thus lies in the western coast of United States. San Francisco was founded on June 29, 1776 by Father Francisco Palou and Jose Joaquin Moraga. It is surrounded by Pacific Ocean at one side and San Francisco Bay at other side. The population size of San Francisco is very high and is ranked as the California’s fourth most populated city and United States twelfth most populated city. The Economy of San Francisco was largely depended on its neighboring areas like the Silicon Valley, San Jose etc. which had more skilled and educated individuals.
Tourism in San Francisco and Influence on San Franciso Economy
San Francisco’s economy is largely dependent on its tourism. Tourism has contributed a lot towards the San Francisco’s economy. It is the third highest tourist attraction city in U.S. According to the study conducted in 2007, the number of tourists has exceeded more than 16 millions and this has contributed an estimated amount of $ 8.2 billions towards the countries economy. As per the report of San Francisco Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, the tourism industry had increased the employment opportunities in San Francisco. The total number of employers in tourism department was estimated as around 72,360 whose combined salary is about $1.95 billion. The highly developed hotel facilities and convention facilities helped further in the growth of tourism department.
But unfortunately, the global crisis had hit the tourism industry of San Francisco a lot. There is a sharp decline in hotel and air services in the San Francisco which adversely affected the tourism sector.
Banking and Finance in San Francisco
Gold mines were discovered in San Francisco by 1848, this attracted more people to this place. In the beginning of 20th century, the period when the Gold Rush in California gained more importance, San Francisco became one of the most important financial centers and Bankers in the State. The headquarters of many Multinational banks and financial centers are located in San Francisco. San Francisco is one among the ten Global Cities The Federal Reserve Bank of San Diego served as the Federal Bank for nine western states which included Arizona, California, Idaho, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Utah. In 1960, the Bank of America laid its foundation in San Francisco and served as a bank which is accessible to the middle class population.
Software boom in San Francisco & Role in San Franciso Economy
During the period 1990-2000, the City was recognized as the center point of Dot-Com bubble. In 2000 it became the center of Web 2.0 which provided free access to the users to interact together in a social community for sharing information, user centered designs etc. some of the most popular software companies which has its headquarters in San Francisco are Twitter, Wikimedia foundation, Sales force.com, Craigslist.Org etc.
San Francisco Research Centers
There are many highly developed research centers in San Francisco which often serves as an important part of counties economy. The research works are mostly concentrated on Biotechnology and Bioinformatics and Biophysics fields. These research centers also have increased the employment opportunities in San Francisco. There are also many aerospace research centers in San Francisco which are laid by the leading aerospace industries like National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), Lockheed etc. In 2009, it was estimated that around 1,800 full time research workers are being employed in these research centers whose average mean wage is around $ 92,620.
Agriculture Influence on San Franciso Economy
The agricultural practices and related industries are very important in San Francisco. It has also contributed a lot towards the country’s economy. The climatic conditions of San Francisco are very much favorable for both plant production and also live stock rearing.
San Francisco Job Scenario
The number of immigrants to San Francisco in search of job was very high. Thus San Francisco has experts specialized in almost every field. Most of the San Franciscans are highly educated and according to a report more than 3o percentage of the citizens are graduates and approximately 20 % of the citizens hold other professional degrees. Recent studies have revealed that there is great increase in the unemployment rate in San Francisco. This is the highest rate recorded after FY 1984. In 2008, 4.5 % of the San Franciscan citizens were found to be unemployed. At present 9 % of the San Diego Citizens are unemployed. This gives an over picture that economic status of USA is not going to get recovered from global financial crisis in the near future.
Real Estate in San Francisco & Effect on San Franciso Economy
The real estate plays an important role towards San Francisco’s economy. But studies conducted in the recent years have shown a great fall in the real estate industry owing to the global financial crisis. This adversely affected the San Francisco’s economical growth.
Cost of Living in San Franciso
The cost of living in San Francisco is very high. The high cost imparted for housing, high cost on food, accessories and other consumer goods along with tight labor market had made life in San Francisco more expensive. In 2008, average house hold income in San Francisco was estimated as approximately $ 73,798.
