Silicon Valley unemployment rate jumps to 9.4%

Silicon Valley’s unemployment rate jumped more than a full point, to 9.4 percent, from December to January, the biggest increase since at least 1990, the earliest year for which the state Employment Development Department has comparable data.

The Santa Clara-San Benito county area lost 14,900 jobs to total 897,000, a 2 percent decrease in the number of jobs in the past 12 months.

The primary monthly job losses were in the retail sector, which lost 3,200 jobs after the holidays, and the trade, transportation and utilities sector, which lost 4,000 jobs. The professional and business services sector dropped 3,500 jobs.