Economy
The Week in Business: Government Shutdown Pounds Washington State
Governor's office releases list of threatened services
Almost 13,000 Washington state residents didnt receive a paycheck Jan. 11 as the partial federal government shutdown continues. These workers, many of them veterans, will once again try to sleep tonight with the insecurity of not knowing when their next paycheck is coming or how they will be able to pay their mortgages or rent,…
Seattle Journalist Explores Bank Panic that Struck Washington in 1893
Banker solidarity in Seattle saw it through tenuous times. Other cities werent as fortunate.
This article appears in print in the November 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. EDITOR’S NOTE: In his new book, The Panic of 1893: The Untold Story of Washington States First Depression (Caxton Press, 2018), Seattle journalist Bruce Ramsey explores a bank panic and economic depression that struck Washington four years after it…
As Developers Buy Up Land, Local Mobile Home Owners Find Solutions to Keep Their Homes
In a booming economy, owners of mobile homes face the prospect of having their land sold out from under them. But creative options exist to help them preserve their communities.
SOLID AS A ROC. Steve Aitchison and fellow residents of the Woodbrook mobile home park in Lakewood formed a cooperative to buy the land from an owner who wanted to sell to a developer. This article appears in print in the October 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. Twelve years ago, dozens of…
Look Back: Seattle During World War I
This photograph is part of WW1 America, a touring exhibit at Seattles Museum of History & Industry.
This article appears in print in the October 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. The United States government sold liberty loan bonds to raise great sums of money during World War I. The second of four bond campaigns generated $3 billion nationwide; the government paid 4 percent interest to investors. Seattles share of…
Wages Remain Sluggish Despite Economic Growth
The latest PayScale Index shows that despite many positive economic indicators, nominal wages tick slightly down while real wages hold steady in Q3.
This story originally ran on PayScale. Wage growth remains anemic. Many economic indicators point to a robust economy: GDP continues to grow, unemployment remains at historic lows and corporate profits are on an upward trajectory. However, these improvements have not translated to meaningful wage growth for American workers. The PayScale Index tracks quarterly and annual…
A Real Look at Seattle’s Wage Growth
See how Seattle compares to national wage growth numbers.
This article appears in print in the September 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. Since 2006, private-sector wages in the United States have climbed 12.9 percent. But factor in inflation, as PayScales Real Wage Index does, and the buying power of those paychecks has fallen 9.3 percent. In the second quarter of 2018,…
More Employers Are Making Their Summer Staffers Full-Time Employees
The number of seasonal workers becoming full-time employees has grown from two percent to 15 percent
This story originally ran on PayScale. As many as 15 percent of seasonal workers will become full-time staffers by the end of the summer, estimates Amy Glaser, senior vice president of Adecco Staffing. Glaser tells USA Today that this in contrast to the one or two percent of summer help who typically stay on. Staffing…
How Seattle-Area Training Programs Are Using Unconventional Ideas to Put People to Work
Who needs college? Not everyone, certainly. If employers and educators would realize that good careers can be forged without a bachelors degree, the most difficult people to employ might find paths to self-sufficiency.
Who needs college? Not everyone, certainly. If employers and educators would realize that good careers can be forged without a bachelor’s degree, the most difficult people to employ might find paths to self-sufficiency.
Charted: Transportation 2040 in the Puget Sound
Take a look 22 years into the future of traffic in the region.
This article appears in print in the January 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. Transportation 2040 is a long-range plan for the four-county (King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish) central Puget Sound region, formulated by the Puget Sound Regional Council. It lays out steps to improve the movement of people and goods throughout the…
Venture Investments in Asian Companies Rocket to U.S. Levels for First Time Ever in 2017
Investments in Seattle area venture companies climbed 23 percent to $1.57 billion last year, and Washington state ranked 7th in the U.S.
Investments in venture-backed companies in Asia shot up 117 percent last year to $70.8 billion, up from $32 billion the year before, catching up with venture investment in the United States, where investments rose a more moderate 17 percent to $71.9 billion, according to the MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and CB Insights. The sharp…
Seattle, King County, Washington State Continue to See Best Wage Growth in the U.S.
New reports out this month point to significant growth in the city, county and state.
The city of Seattle, King County and the state of Washington are national leaders in an economic metric that has lagged throughout the post-recession recovery: wage growth. Pay growth in the U.S. slowed in November, but that wasnt the case in Seattle, where pay grew at a national-best 2.1 percent year-over-year. Glassdoors monthly Local Pay…
Seattle Metro Ranks No. 1 for Small Business Job Growth, While National Rate Dips
Washington state also ranks second in the U.S. for job growth, and the city and state both rank well for wage growth, too.
Washington state and the Seattle metro are national leaders in small business jobs and wage growth, according to a new report. The November results of the Paychex IHS Small Business Employment Watch showed the Seattle metro jumping to first overall in small business jobs growth. The Seattle metro was No. 1 on the list for…