California and Technology

California's pre-eminence in technolgy was confirmed in a recent report by the American Electronics Association. US high tech employment grew by about 1% in 2004 - the country gained 61,000 jobs in the area - while California lost about 10,000. But the importance of California with more than 900,000 jobs (compared to the next three states of Texas at 435,000, New York at 300,000 and Florida at 265,000) suggests how large the state is in this area. In essence we have more jobs in the sector than almost the next three largest states. Interestingly, although technology is important it accounts for just 72 of every 1000 jobs in the state. That amounts to an $82 billion payroll. Of the venture capital in the area - California took the lion's share - $10.4 billion (compared to Massachusetts at $2.4, Texas at $1.1 and New York at $1.1). Salaries in the industry were also higher in California - the average salary in 2004 was $90,600 (with Massachusetts at $87,200, New Jersey at $82,500, Delaware at $80,100 and Washington at $79,700).

When one thinks about the state's "big five" (computers, biotech, entertainment, foreign trade and professional services) you can see how they inter-relate - technology accounts for 41% of the state's exports.