The SunBreak » unemployment

Richard Florida’s “Seattle Boomtown” Source? Seattle Times Columnist Jon Talton

Michael van Baker — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:16:31 +0000

Florida emailed Talton for more background, all featured in his Atlantic Cities post, but the upshot is this: "Today, Seattle provides a good example of the back-to-the-downtown trend that is reshaping cities across the United States as workers relocate to formerly neglected urban cores that offer transit, walkability, and central location."

Washington’s Unemployed Get Two Months to Turn Economy Around

Michael van Baker — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:47:07 +0000

Here in the state of Washington, that means some 40,000 unemployed people who were looking at losing benefits on Dec. 31 can now recalibrate their estimated destitution for the end of February. (That's not counting a further 20,000, who would have been out in the cold sometime between January and February. "Combined, that’s the equivalent of every adult in Yakima being spared a sudden loss of income in the next two months," says the state Senate Democrats blog, The Hopper.

What is the Sound of Washington State’s Economy Treading Water?

Michael van Baker — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 20:54:17 +0000

Washington State's chief economist, Arun Raha, has updated his revenue forecast for the state for June, and the upshot is that projections for the 2011-13 biennium are down $183 million. It's become habit the last few years for Raha to trot out an analysis that shows a near-term plateau, with a soft recovery in the offing, perhaps six months or more out. Raha is scrupulous about noting that even a mild recovery is predicated on fair economic winds, it's just that, regularly, the economic winds do not blow fair.

The Pacific Northwest, Home of Les Misérables

Michael van Baker — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 17:38:58 +0000

The Misery Index tracks just three factors: decline in home value, increase in gas prices, and unemployment. As for the home prices, this headline from the Seattle Bubble gives you some idea: "Case-Shiller: Seattle Home Prices Nearly 30 Percent Off Peak." Portland, same story. If that's not enough, economists are predicting a double-dip in housing prices, while even renters are getting hit with increases, thanks to refugees from the housing market deciding to rent instead.

Washington State Adds to Unemployed Rolls, Retroactively

Michael van Baker — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 19:19:24 +0000

Anyway, the state's jobless picture is still worse than you think: "The unemployment rate, which is based on a household survey, fell in February because more people left the labor force." In a story on January's unemployment numbers, I chose instead to focus on an actual and alarming change of several percentage points in underemployment.