Economy
Jeff Bezos and Howard Schultz Join $150M Rise of the Rest Fund
The fund aims to create economic development outside areas like Silicon Valley.
Jeff Bezos and Howard Schultz are two of the biggest names to join a new $150 venture fund that aims to bolster entrepreneurship outside the coastal areas where such economic activity has traditionally clustered. Rise of the Rest is a $150 million seed fund that has grown out of Revolution LLC, a Washington D.C.-based investment…
How Bank of Americas Neighborhood Builders Program is Contributing to Seattles Economic Vitality
The nations largest philanthropic investment in nonprofit leadership development is making a positive impact on our city.
sponsored by Bank of America Theres no doubt that Seattle is an entrepreneurial powerhouse. For the second time in a decade, Seattle is the fastest-growing big city in the country, exemplified by 2.9 percent job growth in 2016 and the more than 5 million square feet of office space built over the past two years….
Washington Unemployment Rate Drops to Historic Low
The state's unemployment rate fell to 4.5%, and the unemployment rate in Seattle/Bellevue/Everett held firm at 3.8% while growing its labor force.
The unemployment rate in the state of Washington fell in October, matching a historic low. The state gained nearly 7,000 jobs in the month, and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.5 percent, down from 4.6 percent in September and 5.3 percent in October 2016. In the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett metro area, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at…
Seattle Sees Fastest Wage Growth in the U.S. in October
Tied with San Francisco for best in the nation, Seattle's wages grew 2.1 percent from October 2016 to October 2017 to a median salary north of $60,000.
Wages are up for almost every occupation in the Seattle region, which ties San Francisco as the metro with the fastest growing median base pay in the United States, according to new data from Glassdoor. Median pay is up yet again in the Seattle metro, growing 2.1 percent year-over-year. Thats ahead of the national rate…
See Seattle Area Workforce Data in a New Way
A new update to the Workforce Development Council's interactive Talent Pipeline Application features new ways to visualize data about the regional job market.
Community Attributes, Inc. is launching a new version of Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County (WDC) interactive Talent Pipeline Application. New features include ways to analyze the supply and demand of all occupations in King County, filter results by wage, educational level and industry, and visualize occupations in a number of different ways. See more…
Washington Ranks 17th in the Nation in Tax Competitiveness
Washington's Corporate Tax Structure ranks near the bottom because of B&O Tax and Sales Tax.
Washington ranks 17th in the nation on tax competitiveness according to the Tax Foundation’s 2018 State Business Tax Climate Index released today. According to the Tax Foundation, the index measures how well each states tax code is structured, analyzing over 100 tax variables in five different tax categories: corporate, individual income, sales, property, and unemployment…
Into the Woods: This Outsider Company Sees a Revival in Washington’s Lumber Industry
Sierra Pacific Industries finds promise and profit in the old-fashioned industry.
CUTTING ROOM: The new Sierra Pacific Industries sawmill in Shelton, viewed here from Oakland Bay, an estuarial arm of Puget Sound, is expected to employ 200. Washingtons lumber-producing sector, the states original heavy industry, is a shadow of what it once was. Decades of constricted log supply, competition from Canadian imports, the housing-led recession and…
Washington Unemployment Rate Hits Record Low of 4.6%
State added 1,200 new jobs in April; unemployment rate matches historic low reached in June 2007.
OLYMPIA Washingtons added 1,200 new jobs in April and the unemployment rate fell from 4.7 to 4.6 percent matching the states historic low for unemployment last reached in June 2007, according to the state Employment Security Department. While job growth was more subdued in April, Washingtons economy continues to trend positively, said Paul Turek, economist…
Its Time for a State Income Tax
Washingtons tax system is arguably the worst in the nation. Without a reasonable state income tax, it will never get out of the hole.
EDITOR’S NOTE: To read the full version of Dick Conway’s study on the dysfunctions in Washington’s tax system, click here. In 1932, attempting to reduce the property-tax burden on farmers, 70 percent of Washington voters passed an initiative to enact a graduated income tax. When the business community challenged its legality, the Washington State Supreme…
Economic Outlook: Mark Anderson Predicts
2017: The Year of Major Inflections.
Weve been accurately predicting the future for more than 20 years, and so its interesting when, during that sweep of time, a single year stands out for any reason. All of our predictions regarding Chinas national business model, for example, have now been proven true, together with the often devastating effects experienced by trading partners,…
Economic Outlook: The Experts Speak
How certain sectors will fare in 2017.
RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATEBy Matthew GardnerChief Economist, Windermere Real Estate SUMMARYIn 2016, the laws of supply and demand were turned upside down in markets throughout the Puget Sound region. Home sales and prices rose while listings remained anemic. In the coming year, there should be a modest increase in the number of homes for sale, which…
Economic Outlook: Working with a Net
Seattles torrid growth isnt sustainable, so the city prepares for falling tax revenue.
From his office in Seattle’s City Hall, Ben Noble can see that change is in the air. Fall has given way to winter, and cargo ships, ferry boats and construction cranes move about under a blanket of gray. Occupying the city budget directors thoughts is the worrisome realization that the boom times in Seattle might…
Economic Outlook: Shades of 1990?
A local recession isnt imminent, but dont get too cocky.
With evidence of a booming economy practically everywhere we look help-wanted signs, local government surpluses, congested freeways it is difficult to imagine a slowdown, I said at a business leadership conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, in early 1990. But a closer look at the nature of the Seattle economy and its recent growth portends change….