By Jim Cline
The latest report of the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council, provides a mixed picture of economic strength both nationally and locally.
October 17, 2013 by
Latest State Economic and Revenue Report Provides “Mixed Signals”
October 15, 2013 by
Latest CPI Report and Other Indicators Suggest Low Inflation May be the “New Normal”
By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer
As we had suggested in our last article on inflation trends, inflation seems to be trending downward. The CPI numbers confirm that trend. The latest inflation report both for Seattle and All-Cities is sub-2% and other recent inflation projections suggest that trend might continue. The recently released August CPI numbers report the National inflation index (All-Cities-W) at 1.5% and the Seattle-W even lower — 1.1%. A year ago, the corresponding were 1.7% (All-Cities) and 2.7% (Seattle): This graph shows the declining rate over the past year: [Read more…]
July 31, 2013 by
Surge in Sales Tax Revenue Presages Improved Negotiation Outlook
By Jim Cline
Recent economic news has been characterized as tepid at best, but the most recent Washington State Department of Revenue report offers one of our clearest recent indicators that a solid economic recovery may be underway, at least in Washington State. The recently released Department of Revenue First Quarter Sales tax numbers show a statewide jump from the preceding 12 months (Quarter 1, 2012) of 8 percent. The City sales tax numbers can be found here. The County numbers can be found here. [Read more…]
