GALLINA LLP  In The News
 AS SEEN IN: The Granite Bay Press-Tribune

DATE:  February 6, 2008

Survey reports continued slow business growth

By: Staff report
Wednesday, February 6, 2008

The Annual Placer County Business Climate Survey reported the slowest projected job growth in 14 years with only 30 percent of county employers planning to add employees in the first half of 2008, according to the accounting firm Gallina, LLP of Roseville.

That's less than half as many jobs as employers projected to add in the first six months of last year and by far the lowest number the survey of Placer County CEOs has recorded since 1993.

Unemployment rates are still relatively low, but hiring plans are meager.

When given a choice of five factors helping or hurting their business, the majority of survey respondents marked, "other."

Woes brought on by the weak housing market continued to grow, with 73 percent reporting that the housing market was negatively impacting their business as compared to 56 percent in '07.

The number of businesses reporting sales increases for the past six months went down with 55 percent reporting increases in the final six months of 2007 compared to 67 percent with increases in the final six months of 2006. The percentage of the sales increase remained the same at about 12 percent.

Looking forward to the first six months of 2008, 64 percent of employers project sales increases down from the 78 percent who projected the same for last year.