Tech booms while unemployment grows

It is a tale of two Americas: an America in which Lamborghinis are to be seen in dotcom carparks, but also one in which unemployment has hit 16.2%.

The LA Times reports on the surging demand for real estate, office space and even foie gras.

Office rents have shot up as much as 35% in some prime locations. Hotel occupancy rates have topped 80%, sending room rates higher. Business is brisk at the Menlo Park branch of upscale grocery chain Draeger’s, which takes pride in stocking its shelves with the kind of duck foie gras and other delicacies found at Harrods in London or Fauchon in Paris. Hot start-ups such as Dropbox in San Francisco, which helps its 25 million users store and share photos, videos and documents, are negotiating funding rounds that would make them worth billions. Even the rooftop parties popular during the last major tech boom are making a comeback.