The chart below compares job growth since 1990 in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara Metropolitan Statistical Areas. Employment is seasonally adjusted and indexed so that in each case the January 1990 value is equal to 100.

The Seattle MSA (comprising King, Snohomish and Pierce Counties) had 28.1 percent more jobs in August 2010 than in January 1990. For the San Francisco MSA (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) the twenty-year gain was only 1.8 percent; for the San Jose MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) it was only 2.5 percent.

All three areas saw large jumps in employment during the late 1990s followed by declines in the early 2000s. Seattle’s declines, however, were less severe, and its subsequent expansion was more vigorous. At the 2008 peak, the Seattle MSA’s ‘s employment was well above the the preceding peak. This was not the case for the two California MSAs. Both of these area’s have fewer jobs today than they had at the bottom of the dot-com recession.

Proponents of initiative 1098 point to California as proof that high income taxes don’t hinder economic growth. This picture doesn’t help their case.