The Santa Clarita Valley kicked off the first month of what is proving to be a tough year in fits and starts with climbing unemployment and quick home sales, according to economic officials and city documents.

“We’re still climbing out of the hole, but there are little green shoots out there,” said Jack Kyser, founding economist of the Kyser Center for Economic Research at the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp.

Unemployment in the city of Santa Clarita hit the highest point since the start of the Great Recession — 8.2 percent. It was up from December’s 7.4 percent and January 2009’s 6.6 percent.

But home sales have picked up, said Jason Crawford, the city of Santa Clarita’s economic development director.

In the city, the average time homes were on the market before being sold was one and a half months, whereas for the last half of 2009 the average was almost three months, Crawford said.

Across the Santa Clarita Valley, single-family home prices were lower than in December, but still higher than January 2009 at $399,900.

The number of homes receiving a notice of default, the first step toward foreclosure, continues to trend down. In city limits, 155 homes received such notices, a 29-percent drop from January 2009.

On the supply side, home developers appear to be picking up their shovels once more, with four building permits requested  for new homes in January. While significantly lower than December’s 26 pulled permits, it’s better than nothing, as was the case last January.

Kyser said the activity in single-family home construction was “a very good thing.”

“That sector has been severely depressed and now they are starting to venture out of their foxholes and build some product,” he said.

Crawford said Advanced Bionics boosted occupied office space. From the second to the third quarter of 2009, the commercial vacancy rate fell from 18.7 to 16.1 percent. The commercial vacancy rate was back up to 18.1 percent in January.

Retail space has held steady, with 7.3 percent vacant.

Kyser said that while 2010 will continue to be a difficult year with potential for disappointment, consumers should take heart in the fact that there are positive signs, noting several local stocks increasing in value and infrastructure programs under way.

Six of the city’s companies that trade in the New York Stock Exchange experienced an increased stock price in January, with Berry Petroleum Co., MannKind Corp. and Woodward HRT each seeing triple-digit percent increases over last year.

City coffers continue to take a hit. At $82,899, hotel-tax revenue was down 5 percent over last year. With an estimated economic impact of $1.6 million, filming in the city was down 30 percent over last year’s $2.3 million.

The city’s sales-tax revenues are updated quarterly. The most recent quarter available was July through September in 2009. During that time period, revenue was down 13 percent from the year before, with $5.83 million generated.