Files containing subject holiday sales

President-Elect Donald Trump saved 1,100 jobs at a Carrier plant in Indiana. Or was it 800? He then objected to the $4 billion cost of the next Air Force One being built by Boeing...It should be no surprise that someone who prides himself as a businessman would want to get his hands on the economy. [READ MORE]

End of year is a fitting time to sum things up. Economic statistics for 2006 have not been finalized, but so far the numbers look good. The 3.5 percent gain in Puget Sound employment, if it holds up, will be the best showing in eight years. [READ MORE]

Typically, it takes more than one thing to lift an economy up or drag it down. In 1997, boosted by strong national growth, a cyclical upturn at Boeing, and the dot-com boom, Puget Sound employment jumped 5.1 percent. [READ MORE]

The 4,000 additional layoffs announced by Boeing and Weyerhaeuser will deepen the recession and delay the recovery. Nevertheless, it appears that the worst may be over. [READ MORE]

Like it or not, the Puget Sound region has little control over its economic destiny, at least in the short run. World air travel dictates how many commercial jets Boeing will sell. Volatile housing markets in California and Japan generate production swings at Weyerhaeuser lumber mills. The incomes of many Seattle fishermen are made or lost in Alaskan waters. [READ MORE]

Last May, after presenting an optimistic outlook, we posed the following question: could it be even better? With each new report out of The Boeing Company, the answer seems to be yes. [READ MORE]