The Washington State Economic and Revenue Council (EFRC) today issued its December Economic and Revenue Update. Here is the summary:

• The U.S. economy continues to “muddle through.” The risk of a renewed financial meltdown stemming from the European sovereign debt crisis remains high.
• We continue to expect Washington’s economy to outperform the U.S. in the recovery. The decision to build the Boeing 737 Max in Renton is great news for Washington’s future but will have its greatest impact on the economy and revenues in future biennia. Its current impact will mostly be through improved confidence amongst the aerospace workforce.
• Major General Fund-State revenue collections for the November 11 – December 10, 2011 collection period were $19.7 million (1.2%) higher than the November forecast, but the positive variance was due to the timing of property tax payments. This month’s higher property tax payments will be largely reversed by lower payments next month. Without the extra property tax payments, collections would have been $14.2 million (0.9%) below the forecast

The full report is here.

This is the first report on collections since the disappointing November 17 revision to the revenue forecast, which reduced the forecast for the 2011–13 biennium by $122 million. The next collections report, due on January 11, will include sales tax revenue on “Black Friday” Christmas purchases.