Technology job recovery spreads through Silicon Valley

A technology-led recovery in Silicon Valley is slowly spreading throughout the local economy, as every major industry except construction added jobs in March, according to a report from the California Employment Development Department.

The valley's job growth was tops among the state's 10 largest metro areas. "This is a recovery led by tech," said Stephen Levy of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy, "pushed partly by social networking companies like Facebook and Internet and search giants like Google." The economic recovery is being driven by national trends that don't necessarily add up to a lot of jobs elsewhere, said Brad Kemp of Beacon Economics. "They are not investing in labor," he said. "They are investing in efficiency and automation, and Silicon Valley and San Francisco benefit from that focus. Hardware and software are going to feel that effect.'' Ballooning demand for mobile devices of greater and greater power is also pushing job growth.