In Washington, 40 Percent of Jobs are Trade-Related
Earlier this week, the Washington Council on International Trade (WCIT) and the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle (TDA) released “An International Competitiveness Strategy for Washington State.” The really interesting part of the strategy is its update of the “one in three jobs in Washington are trade-related” statistic (which dates to 1999). Now, according to […]
September 19 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
September revenue forecast unchanged
Today’s revenue forecast remains essentially unchanged. From the press release: In the three months since the June forecast, U.S. economic activity has generally been in line with the baseline scenario. We continue to see slow growth, high unemployment and weak confidence. Despite the relatively small changes in the economic forecast, the level of downside uncertainty […]
September 11 , 2012 - Kriss Sjoblom
August 11 to September 10 general fund-state revenue collections were $1.1 million less than anticipated
The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council issued its monthly Economic and Revenue Update today. For the August 11 to September period, general fund-state collections were a scant $1.1 million less than anticipated in the most recent official forecast, which was issued in June. For the last three months combined, revenues exceeded the forecast by $20.1 […]
September 10 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
Seattle ranks No. 40 on new economic index
According to the On Numbers Economic Index, Seattle ranks 40th in the nation, well behind top performers Oklahoma City, Autin and Omaha. The index is a product of American City Business Journals, which publishes regional business journals across the country, including the Puget Sound Buxiness Journal. The American economy is strongest in the heartland. Oklahoma […]
August 16 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
Jobless rate climbs to 8.5%, but some good news for retail
Washington’s unemployment rate jumped from 8.3 percent to 8.5 percent, as reported by the employment security department, which may want to consider a name change if this keeps up. OLYMPIA – Preliminary estimates of the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate and job numbers in Washington last month are seemingly at odds again, similar to the national […]
August 14 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
"Brainpower is spreading out:" More cities attracting the college educated
In the New Geography, Joel Kotkin reports that America’s college graduates are increasingly found outside the dominant metro areas. …The New York Times recently opined that “college graduates gravitate to places with many other college graduates and the atmosphere that creates.” Yet an analysis of Census data shared with Forbes by demographer Wendell Cox tells a different story. […]
August 14 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
WA and CA only states showing negative FY12 balance in NCSL budget update
While it’s not necessarily cause for alarm, the negative balances reported in the 2012 state budget update isn’t the happy news one hopes for in these things. As the National Conference of State Legislature’s notes: In Washington, FY 2012 marks the midpoint of the biennium; the shortfall will be eliminated over the remainder of the […]
August 13 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
August revenue collections report shows taxes track with forecast
Today’s revenue collections report, though possibly foreshadowing a softening, shows receipts continuing to track the June forecast. The press release has the yin and yang. It’s a good news/bad news thing. Major General Fund-State (GF-S) revenue collections were $45.0 million (3.8%) lower than the June forecast, but cumulative receipts for the last two months are […]
August 06 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
So the best news is that we're not likely to fall into a double-dip recession
University of Michigan economist Mark Perry examined five economic reports yesterday and suggests they tell us that, though growth remains dismal, the U.S. economy was not sliding into recession. He asks the provocative question: All five indicators accurately signaled the last recession in 2007-2009, so they can’t all be wrong this time, can they? Take […]
July 25 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
Medicaid expansion will add to state budget stress
In my column this morning I look at the costs of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Earlier, Emily and I have reported on the findings of the State Budget Crisis Task Force (here and here). Medicaid costs are one of the six major budget threats identified by the group and the one most […]