Archive

12 JunJune 2019 Newsletter – Data, Trade and Trends

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.

Volume: 27 - Number: 2

Leading Index Title: Not Yet

Special Topic Title: Stream Flow

Authors:

  • Hart Hodges
  • Josh Grandbouche
  • James McCafferty

20 JunTariffs, Policies and Other Rumors – June 2018

Last quarter we unveiled a returning column written by our colleagues at Employment Security. Beginning with the September edition it will take you a little longer to read the Forecaster as we add an entire set of new pages that will present the state-wide forecast among other informative items. The expansion will mean more pages for you to read through but will not change the Puget Sound focused content. This expansion of the Forecaster is a key step in connecting the economic activity of the Puget Sound (which drives a majority of the state numbers) with the nuances of the overall stateís activities. In producing the Forecaster we draw upon the expertise of our colleagues from throughout the region, our faculty here at Western Washington University and our student research assistants. Each provides a unique perspective and voice to the topics we present with our goal of providing you the background to navigate within the economy. We also want to highlight the role of different faculty and student assistants. We have different experts contributing articles and ideas. We welcome your questions and topic suggestions for future articles. Email us at [email protected].

Volume: 26 - Number: 2

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Inside Unemployment

Authors:

  • Hart Hodges
  • James McCafferty

20 MarEconomy May Be Reaching Its Limits

As we wrap up the first quarter of the year it is a good time to take stock of what happened in 2017. Last year was a strong year by most measures, but as we have noted, the economy may be reaching its limits. Some factors are cooling off from their highs seen in 2016, such as employment growth. Unemployment continues to fall even lower locally than it is nationally, begging the question of how low the natural rate of unemployment is in this economy ñ and who is actually considered to be unemployed. Inflation has the Fed's attention. Later this year they will decide if the economy is reaching the point where rates are raised four times this year as they're hinting rather than three.

Volume: 26 - Number: 1

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Inside Unemployment

Authors:

  • Hart Hodges
  • James McCafferty

16 JunTurning Point

At the risk of jumping the gun, we do not want to pass up an important milestone for the Puget Sound economy. Following a three-year retreat, regional employment moved up sharply at the beginning of the year, marking a welcome turning point in the current economic cycle.

Volume: 12 - Number: 2

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Labor Force

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen

16 AugSome Hurdles

Looking down the track, the Puget Sound economy has some hurdles to jump, not the least of which is an impending slowdown in the national economy.

Volume: 6 - Number: 3

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Two Washingtons

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen

16 FebMaking the Grade

The Puget Sound economy merits high marks for last year's achievements. Particularly impressive was its performance at the end of the year.

Volume: 5 - Number: 1

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Economic Diversity

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen