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The University of California - Berkeley, ranks as the second-best university in the world in a new listing of top colleges compiled by a London publication. Berkeley is the top-rated public university and falls behind only Harvard University in the "World University Rankings" published recently by The Times Higher, the higher education supplement of The Times of London. The list ranks the top 200 universities in the world, as determined by an international peer review and an examination of other factors, including faculty-to-student ratio, the number of foreign faculty and students the institution attracts and the impact of faculty's research. The California Institute of Technology - CalTech - ranked third on the list while Stanford University is ranked seventh, followed by Yale and Princeton universities at eighth and ninth. Oxford and Cambridge universities, both in England, round out the top 10 in fifth and sixth place, respectively, and ETH Zurich - the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich - ranks 10th. Other University of California campuses also make fine showings on the list. In all, seven of UC's nine campuses are listed in the top 200. UC San Francisco is ranked 20th, followed by UC San Diego at 24, UCLA at 26, UC Santa Barbara at 72, UC Santa Cruz at 175 and UC Davis at 182; and…

The San Francisco Bay Area labor market halted its punishing three-year slide in 2004 with payrolls expanding modestly by year's end. In 2005, jobs are likely to grow at a slightly faster pace, led by solid gains in the service sector. According to the Bay Area Business Journal, the region's job growth is expected to continue a slow climb through next year, keeping hope alive for a stronger economy but falling far short of another technology-led boom. The Bay Area showed modest gains in 2004, portending well for the future, considering how far the region had fallen during the tech bust, according to economists. The UCLA Anderson Forecast predicts that in 2005, the number of jobs in the region will increase 1.5% to 2%, in step with the state, which should see an increase of 1.6%. Looking at the long term, the state Employment Development Department expects San Francisco County to add 36,400 jobs between 2001 and 2008, with employment growing from 586,100 to 622,500. That amounts to an average yearly increase of less than 1%. The department predicts that the service sector, particularly business services, will see most of the increase. Manufacturing, finance, insurance and real estate are expected to lose jobs. Santa Clara County should see 76,800 more jobs between 2001 and 2008, according to the employment department. That translates to an average growth rate of about 1.1% each year. Like San Francisco County, most of the job gains are expected in the service sector, with more than 80% of the growth in business services occurring in computer programming.

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