Economic forecasts,
for the greater Seattle area.
Consider us your research center, providing you answers in easy to understand language and charts.
Established in 1993, The Puget Sound Economic Forecaster is a quarterly report published by the Center for Economic and Business Research at Western Washington University which acquired the publication in 2017 from its founders, Conway Pedersen Economics, Inc.
The report and website are designed for business executives, marketing directors, investors, government managers, and researchers who need a professional and objective view on the economic prospects for the Puget Sound region (King County, Kitsap County, Pierce County, and Snohomish County).
Our goal is to provide accurate and well-reasoned forecasts for the region as well as clear and insightful observations on important developments in the economy.
In-Depth Regional Economic Outlook
The first issue of the
Puget Sound Economic Forecaster,
a quarterly report,
was published in December 1993.
Each report contains a summary forecast, in-depth discussion of the regional outlook, forecasts and analyses of retail sales and construction and real estate, a special topic (e.g., China and Population Change), a detailed forecast table, and the Puget Sound Index of Leading Economic Indicators.
To facilitate research and analysis on the regional economy, every issue of the regional economic report is archived as a downloadable PDF file in the Subscriber Area. A comprehensive Subject Index of the archived reports has been developed to aid in the retrieval of information.
Reports are posted to the web site one to two weeks before the printed copy is mailed.
Sample Report – Data, Trade and Trends [Volume 27, Number 2, June 2019]
With thoughts of the long warm days of summer on our minds, we have found ourselves interrupted pondering about the price of avocados and how the latest round of tariff threats that may impact retail sales and the general economy overall. Thoughts of spending time at the lake or river have found us considering stream flows and how the change in our climate may impact all of the people and businesses that rely on water in one way or another. Daydreams of patio and deck BBQs have caused us to reflect on changes in house prices and the sudden growth in sales outside of the King County – is it more commuters or are jobs moving? Will the Seattle to Everett corridor retain its worst traffic in the nation ranking? Evidently, economists are bad at not thinking about things. All of the above is ahead in this edition of the Forecaster plus a better understanding of workforce participation and the state forecast. We will just call it the beach edition.
Additional Features
In addition to the Quarterly Report,
we regularly publish
Additional Feature Reports
Breaking News
What We Are Following in the News
The old parental anxiety over getting the kids into college has been followed by a new one: getting the kids a job after graduation. Facing a job market that’s downright hostile to fresh grads, parents with means are paying thousands of dollars—and in some cases tens of thousands—to pair their college-age children with career coaches years before their careers will begin. https://buff.ly/4fkrp4R
We know it is April, but suddenly there are a lot of articles about college graduates and jobs. This week, Bloomberg has done a series of them. One states that many college graduates are working jobs that high schoolers could land, with almost 43% of US graduates aged 22 to 27 underemployed as of December 2025. The imbalance in supply and demand, with college completions rising by 54% from 2004 to 2024 and entry-level jobs growing by just 42%, is a major contributor to the issue. This is a data-driven approach and reflects the massive reduction in job postings in the US, and not the value of a college degree. Others use job posting data and conclude that, since many no longer require a college degree, college degrees have declined in value. This is a false reading of the data. Many HR professionals have, for the past decade, encouraged the removal of proxies such as years of experience or education from postings to attract more applicants. While this is more work for employers, it encourages a more diverse hiring pool and better matches for actual skills rather than proxies. https://buff.ly/66x8A5k
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has not yet caused significant disruptions to US supply chains, but it has driven up fuel surcharges and added uncertainty, according to NRF and the Port of Long Beach, which was the busiest US cargo port in March and in the first quarter. https://buff.ly/tWt9JLA
Questions? We Love Questions!
We receive a wide-range of questions every day and would love to hear yours. Questions lead to data and data should lead to better questions.
Special Topics
Special topics in each report
intended to increase the
reader’s understanding of
how the Puget Sound economy works
Past topics include regional growth, labor productivity, demographic trends, inflation, multipliers, entrepreneurs, and state and local taxes.
Web site subscribers currently have access to more than fifty special topics. Here are four examples drawn from the Special Topic Archive:
Stream Flow [Volume 27, Number 2, June 2019]
Is Traffic Real? [Volume 27, Number 1, March 2019]
Labor Force and Population [Volume 26, Number 4, December 2018]
Forest Fires [Volume 26, Number 3, September 2018]
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