Category: News

With unemployment holding steady last month at 5.6%, the Seattle Times brings us the details of the employment numbers’ relation to housing: For the past year, the construction industry has been the main driver of economic growth in the state, accounting for a whopping 19.4 percent of all new jobs. Not so in November. In…

I was reading through a story about the King County Council’s 9-0 (4 absent) vote to increase county spending by $3.8 million on “pet causes” when I stumbled upon an interesting line: Sims, though, said real estate tax revenue is down. Considering all the stories I’ve been posting about government revenue going through the roof…

Ooooh, I can see the future. In a story tomorrow that has a very familiar theme, the Seattle P-I takes a look at the affordability of housing (both buying and renting) for lower income families in Seattle. Last year, the housing affordability gap — the difference between what lower income workers can pay for homes…

Here’s a report on the opinion of yet another “senior economist,” this one from California. Keitaro Matsuda, senior economist for Union Bank of California, issued his December 2005 Economic Update for the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday.…• While the largest number of new jobs has come from the trade and transportation sector, construction was the fastest-growing…

Here’s a pair of stories about local governments’ plan to up fees and permit costs for new construction. In Thurston County it’s “lot approval” while in Pierce County it’s “traffic fees.” Any way you cut it, it’s more taxes. Says the Olympian about Thurston County: And with $1.8 million in services the county can’t afford…