https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/04/06/coronavirus-hiring-activity-crumbles-in-bay-area/ > SAN JOSE — Hiring activity has tumbled in the Bay Area, yet this region’s employment picture is far stronger than the hiring malaise that has afflicted Los Angeles and New York, according to a report that offers grim new evidence of how the coronavirus has bludgeoned this area’s economy. > During March compared with February, hiring in the Bay Area plunged 4.8 percent, four times worse than the decline of 1.2 percent for the region in February, a report from the Insitute for Regional Studies unit of Joint Venture Silicon Valley shows.