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| Seattle-area inflation slows. Here’s what’s still driving up prices | The Seattle-area inflation rate is also higher than the national inflation rate of 2.6%, and the core rate of 3.3%. That means costs in the region are increasing a bit more quickly compared with the U.S. average, explained Hart Hodges, associate professor at Western Washington University… |
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| Machinists return to work at an unsettled Boeing after 8-week strike | Hart Hodges and James McCafferty, co-directors of the Center for Economic and Business Research at Western Washington University, said the impact of the strike on the local economy is more likely to come as delayed spending, rather than permanent changes to economic activity. |
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| For many job seekers, WA job market still far from a pre-pandemic norm | Taken as a whole, Washington’s “labor market still tilts in favor of [job] seekers,” says James McCafferty, co-director at the Center for Economic & Business Research at Western Washington University. But in some sectors, McCafferty concedes, “it may not feel like it.”… |
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| Pandemic shopping spree creates economic windfall for rural communities | Before the pandemic, many rural counties struggled to bring in enough taxes to fund services. But a change in how we collect sales tax, followed by a pandemic, has turned things around for some of them, at least for now. To understand what changed, you have to go back to 2008.… |
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| Lagging behind national trend, Seattle workers not in hurry to return to the office | This spring many Seattle-area firms began reopening their offices and tempting workers back with promises of pizza, spontaneous workplace joviality and other all-but-forgotten pleasures of in-person employment. To which many office workers appear to have said, “meh” — much to the dismay… |
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| With gas prices giving folks sticker shock, what will it do to Whatcom’s economy? | While Whatcom County residents are suffering from sticker shock as they pump gasoline, local economists are weighing what impact the price increase will have on the overall local economy. The average price for a gallon of gas in Whatcom County hit $4.61, according to AAA Washington. That… |
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| Editorial: Kids need a week in the woods for outdoor learning | Ask former Everett School District students about Camp Silverton, and you’re likely to hear tales from former fifth-grade campers and high school counselors of days spent identifying trees and plants, visiting historic mines and the Big Four ice caves, testing river water for pH levels, sleeping… |
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| Data analysis shows the big shifts coming to Kitsap's economy | Here at KEDA (Kitsap Economic Development Alliance), we just updated our Kitsap Community Economic Profile in partnership with Western Washington University’s Center for Economic and Business Research. In this publication we traditionally favor accuracy over speed, so we’re mostly using 2020… |
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| During the pandemic Whatcom bankruptcy filings have tumbled to record lows. Here’s why | Despite plenty of pandemic-related shocks to the Whatcom economy, bankruptcy filings in 2021 set a record low. Last year, 155 bankruptcies of all chapters were filed in Whatcom County, according to data from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Western District of Washington in Seattle. That’s down 25%… |
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| Job growth slows in Washington, even as it surges nationally | Another potential factor behind the differences between state and national trends may reflect Washington’s relatively conservative approach to COVID-19 restrictions, said Hart Hodges, an economist and director of the Center for Economic and Business Research at Western Washington… |
