September 2000
For California, it has become the best of times and the worst of times. The economy is booming, venture capital is thriving, and employment is increasing. Everyone agrees that dot.com millionaires may be receiving the most benefits of the Internet juggernaut, but are the tides lifting all boats once stuck?
Regional economic planning agencies have been looking for answers to rebuild the middle-income occupations and drive sustainable economic growth.
This report examines the main strategy to assist in the region’s economic recovery – targeting regional employment clusters or “economic drivers” (groups of complementary, competing and interdependent industries that drive wealth creation in a region), as defined by the San Diego Association of Governments in 1998.
It was found that many of the clusters provided higher wages and higher levels of education attainment; however 22% paid below $18,000 per year as part of a substantial increase of the working poor within the targeted industry clusters. Additionally, while good jobs are being created, the targeted industry clusters employ a lower percentage of women and non-whites and have far lower rates of unionization than non-targeted and non-clustered industries.
