Today: The tech industry may be outpacing the overall U.S. economy, according to a report today. Plus: Sugar gains $15 million in venture funding. And: Home sales have been weak this year in much of the Golden State.

A tech-heavy recovery

The technology industry is a notable bright spot in an otherwise sluggish economic recovery, according to a report today from the Federal Reserve.

In the Fed’s San Francisco district — which includes Silicon Valley and the rest of California, along with Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

“For manufacturers of semiconductors and other technology products, demand continued to grow, with high levels

of capacity utilization and balanced inventories,” the Fed noted in its most recent Beige Book report.

Meanwhile, while the commercial real estate market was weak in most of the region, “further gains in leasing activity were noted for some major markets “… particularly in technology-intensive portions of the San Francisco Bay Area.”

The Fed noted increased demand for tech workers in regions throughout the country — and difficulty in some regions finding candidates with specialized skills. In New England, “a number of technology-related manufacturers plan to hire additional workers in the coming months, in addition to the workers some of them have already hired this year.”

In the Western states, “wage gains are likely

to pick up somewhat” over the next six months, ” as more businesses eliminate wage freezes established during the downturn.” Overall, though, the employment market remains weak in most of the country.

Overall, tech manufacturers reported “that sales growth continued to be strong” in the first quarter of 2011.

One glitch in the tech recovery, though, may be the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The Fed noted that tech shipments to factories in Japan may have declined, based on reports from its Dallas district. “Contacts that ship a significant share of output to Japanese factories noted their profits will be negatively impacted, particularly in the first and second quarters of this year,” the report noted.

Overall, the economy “expanded moderately” in the Western states of the San Francisco district and throughout the country.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues are expected to use the Beige Book data when they next meet April 26 and 27. The Fed has kept its key short-term interest rate near zero since it cut rates dramatically after the financial crisis of 2008.

Today’s report noted rising prices for oil and other commodities — which have been passed on to consumers buying gasoline and food. However, businesses are having a tough time raising prices on other products — in part because wage increases are still “weak or subdued” as unemployment remains high.

Sugar’s $15M funding round

Sugar, a San Francisco online upstart that operates PopSugar.com and other websites targeting trendsetting women, has gained $15 million in venture funding in a round led by Institutional Venture Partners.

Previous investor Sequoia Capital is also participating in the round, which brings total funding to $46 million, according to a news release today.

Sugar was founded by Brian and Lisa Sugar in 2006. “On the eve of our five-year anniversary, Lisa and I are proud of the success and rapid growth we have demonstrated to date,” CEO Brian Sugar said in the news release.

California real estate update

The real estate market in Southern California is off to a sluggish start for the first three months of the year, according to a report today from DataQuick Information Systems, a San Diego real estate tracking firm.

After a slow January and February, March home sales in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties were down 5.2 percent from the year before. Sales volume, for that matter, was 21.4 percent

below average since DataQuick began tracking the market in 1988.

The median home price was $280,500, down 1.6 percent from March 2010. The median price peaked in 2007 at $505,00 and dropped as low as $247,000 in April 2009.

“As an indicator of upcoming trends, the month of March is actually pretty reliable,” DataQuick President John Walsh said in a news release. “We got off to a slow start with sales this year and it doesn’t look like that will change anytime soon.”

DataQuick typically releases information on the market here in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area a day or two after its Southern California report.

Silicon Valley tech stocks

Up: Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), Oracle (ORCL), Intel (INTC), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), VMware, Gilead Sciences (GILD), Yahoo (YHOO).

Down: Cisco Systems (CSCO), eBay (EBAY).

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index: Up 16.73, or 0.6 percent, 2,761.52.

The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average: Up 7.41, or 0.1 percent, to 12,270.99.

And the widely watched Standard Poor’s 500 index: Up 0.25 to 1,314.41.

Check in weekday afternoons for the 60-Second Business Break, a summary of news from Mercury News staff writers, The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and other wire services. Contact Frank Russell at 408-920-5876. Follow him at Twitter.com/mercspike.

Article source: http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_17836320