Despite ongoing concerns over the state of the wider US economy, a new study has revealed that technology companies based in Silicon Valley are succeeding in bucking the trend. The residual impact of the banking crisis in the late 2000s has, of course, had a profound impact on employment levels and economic growth in the US. It does not, however, appear to have extended too far into the country's technology market.
That's because new data shows that employment rates in the software engineering profession is rebounding significantly faster in most other areas of the US labour market. Incomes, meanwhile, have also been revealed to have risen for Silicon Valley residents, especially those who make more than $100, 000 per year, Joint Venture Silicon Valley said.
The survey, conducted by the not-for-profit group, also confirmed that the proportion of Silicon Valley residents with health insurance and children graduating from high school is some way above California and national norms. In fact, the Valley accounted for 15 percent of California's total income tax revenue.
By contrast, the 57 percent of Valley residents aren't doing so well, with their troubles mirroring those seen in the wider US economy. The amount of new residential developments classified as affordable was, for example, the lowest in the past 14 years in 2011.
Russell Hancock, Chief Executive Officer of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, commented: "Small businesses are clearly not out of the rough. The public sector is still in the throes of a fiscal crisis, and median household income continues to fall as the gap between those succeeding and those struggling grows wider and wider."
But for the Valley's better off and better educated, last year was a "bonanza", according to Mr Hancock. "It's as if we're becoming two valleys," he observed.
The latest Silicon Valley Index shows that there are currently three million inhabitants of the Valley, 37 percent of whom are foreign born.