The Daily Feather — Silicon Valley of Heart’s Delight

Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area encompassing more than 1,850 square miles, locals in the early 1900s were inspired to name the region rich with the scents of orchards brimming with ripening fruit the “Valley of Heart’s Delight.” In the 1950s, a new crop popped up yielding silicon chips. Such was the abundance, in 1971, the valley was renamed. Don Hoefler, a technology news reporter for the tabloid Electronic News, is credited with popularizing the name after hearing the term at a lunch with a marketer who referred to Santa Clara Valley as “Silicon Valley.” Inspired, Hoefler penned a series of articles over a three-week span, each with “Silicon Valley USA” emblazoned on the header. In the 1980s, he looked back at the marvel he’d coined that had become universal: “The rationale was simple enough: These revolutionary semiconductors are made in a valley from silicon, the second most abundant chemical element on Earth.”

Technology hubs have sprung up worldwide. Domestically, fed by stellar university systems, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Texas have amassed significant concentrations in technology firms. The Greater Boston Area, the Research Triangle, and Austin’s Tech Hub have been at the forefront of the layoff cycle. In the six months ended March 2023, the share of total tech job cuts has amounted to more than 40% of pink slips (orange bars). It’s no wonder the sum of the three states’ initial jobless claimants over the last year (light brown line) is multiples vis-à-vis that of the U.S. (light blue line). Thus far in April, claims in these Silicon Valley Proxy States have grown at seven times the national pace.

As if on cue, yesterday’s economic docket produced snapshots via the services surveys of the Federal Reserve Districts of Dallas and Richmond.