Job growth has been strong in San Francisco compared with other Bay Area counties following implementation of a new paid sick days standard in San Francisco on February 5, 2007, according to data from the California Employment Development Department.

Despite an economic slowdown affecting employment in all counties in the Bay Area in 2007,2 San Francisco maintained a competitive job growth rate that exceeds the average growth rate of nearby counties (Figure 1). In the 12-month period following the effective date of the new policy, employment in San Francisco expanded by 1.1 percent, the same rate as Marin and San Mateo counties and substantially above the rate of employment change in Alameda, Contra Costa, and Santa Clara counties (-0.5, -0.5, and 0.5 percent, respectively).

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