The Bay Area added thousands of jobs in November, an upswing fueled by a South Bay hiring boom that provided welcome respite from recent months of employment losses for the nine-county region.

The employment gains suggested the region has been able to ward off — for now — at least some of the effects of relentless layoffs in the tech industry that began at the start of 2022 and worsened in 2023.

“The Bay Area labor market pulled itself out of a three-month stupor in November,” said Scott Anderson, chief U.S. economist with BMO Capital Markets.

The region added 5,800 jobs in November, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday. The November gains joined increased employment in October, ending three consecutive months of job losses that started in July. All of the numbers were adjusted for seasonal volatility.

The South Bay added 3,800 jobs in November, snapping a string of three consecutive months of employment losses in August, September and October, according to the state labor agency report.

The East Bay added 300 jobs last month. The four North Bay regions of Marin, Sonoma, Solano and Napa counties also posted job gains in November.

The San Francisco-San Mateo region lost 100 jobs though, mired in a loop of job losses and skyrocketing office vacancies that tech industry cutbacks have fueled.

California as a whole gained a relatively puny 9,300 jobs in November. The statewide unemployment rate worsened, rising to 4.9% in November up from 4.8% in October.

The Bay Area accounted for 62% of all the jobs that California added in November. The South Bay alone produced 41% of all the jobs added in California last month.

“A modest gain is certainly better than the declining jobs” that hit the Bay Area over the summer, said Jeffrey Michael, executive director of the Stockton-based Center for Business and Policy Research at the University of the Pacific. “Nevertheless, the contrast between the sluggish California and Bay Area job market and the more resilient U.S. job market is becoming more apparent.”

The tech industry was among the weakest major sectors in the Bay Area in November, according to a Beacon Economics analysis of the EDD report, which Beacon adjusted for seasonal variations. Bay Area tech companies slashed 1,500 jobs on a net basis in November: 800 positions in the San Francisco-San Mateo region and 600 in the East Bay.

The South Bay, Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties experienced no change in tech employment. Solano County lost 100 such jobs.

The warehouse and transportation industry, which has been jolted by global supply-chain issues in recent years, was the weakest sector in November, losing 2,900 jobs, according to the Beacon assessment. The hardest-hit region for this industry was the East Bay, which lost 2,200 warehouse and transportation positions.

“Despite the ongoing tech layoffs in the region, other sectors were hiring in November, particularly job growth in health care and leisure and hospitality,” said Michael Bernick, an employment attorney with law firm Duane Morris, and a former director of the state EDD.

The Bay Area’s strongest industry in November was the health care sector, which added 3,500 jobs, Beacon noted. Health care employers added 2,100 jobs in the East Bay, 800 in the South Bay and 500 in the San Francisco-San Mateo region.

The second-most-robust Bay Area industry last month was the hotel and restaurant sector, which added 3,000 jobs in the region last month, according to the Beacon analysis. Hotels and restaurants added 2,100 jobs in the East Bay, 400 in the South Bay and 300 in the San Francisco-San Mateo region.

In a sign of potential weakness for in-person shopping at brick-and-mortar stores, retailers cut 400 Bay Area jobs in November, Beacon said.

The South Bay showed strength in retail, adding 500 jobs at retail sites. However, retailers cut 600 East Bay jobs and another 100 in the San Francisco-San Mateo region.

Despite an uneven, sometimes robust, sometimes feeble job market, the Bay Area still appears to be in good shape for the future, experts say.

“2024 could still be a bumpy year but we can put talk of a doom loop aside and look forward to our strength in artificial intelligence, clean energy and electric vehicles,” said Steve Levy, director of the Palo Alto-based Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy.

Silicon Valley’s varied employment base is a big reason why the outlook for the region remains strong, even as portents of a downturn or outright recession still haunt the national and local economies, said Russell Hancock, president of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a San Jose-based think tank. He said it’s no accident that the South Bay was a big job gainer last month.

“The news puts a bounce into our holidays, sure, but the real gift is what’s beneath the uptick, solid fundamentals,” Hancock said. “Despite the layoffs and the adjustments we’re going through, Silicon Valley has continued growing.”

The South Bay in general, and Silicon Valley in particular, is a tech- and export-oriented economy bolstered by dynamic entrepreneurs, Hancock said.

“We’re extremely well-positioned to catch the next wave, artificial intelligence,” Hancock said. “But the fluctuations will keep coming and that too is just part of being an innovation economy.”