1. The annual average unemployment rates in Santa Cruz County are consistently higher than in California as a whole. Seasonal impacts from the agricultural, retail and visitor serving industries in the County lead to a fluctuating unemployment rate throughout the year. This points to the need for economic diversification to provide more year-round employment for County residents.

2. The Santa Cruz County economy is characterized by small, locally owned and operated firms. The State estimates over eighty percent of County businesses employ less than twenty people. In the construction sector, a majority of the firms are very small; approximately seventy-five percent have less than five employees.

3. The State reports that construction firms in Santa Cruz County employ about four thousand people and generate about thirty million dollars in payroll to the Monterey Bay economy. But compared to statewide averages, the County has a lower concentration of jobs in construction.

4. Given the high cost of living in Santa Cruz County, a single parent with two children, one in elementary school, the other pre-school age, would need to earn a wage in excess of seventeen dollars per hour, full time, to no longer need government subsidies. The construction industry can provide a family supporting wage. Statewide, the average hourly wage is in excess of twenty dollars per hour for construction workers.