Trends and Developments Concerning Washington Public Labor Contracts
By Jim Cline
The Bureau of Labor Statistic’s release of national inflation numbers for July shows that national inflation was level for the month. On a 12 month basis, the All Cities CPI-U declined from 1.7%to 1.4 % and the All Cities CPI-W moved from 1.6% to 1.3%. The Seattle inflation numbers are reported bimonthly, with the bimonthly August numbers due out in mid-September. [Read more…]
By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released its awaited June CPI report and it reveals that the National All-Cities index has moderated more than the Seattle index. The Seattle June CPI-W was reported at 2.7%, more than a point ahead of the June All Cities CPI-W which was reported at 1.6%. In both cases, these indices dropped significantly from last June when inflation was running near 4%. This chart shows the last 12 months of CPI-W data.
By Chris Casillas
In a somewhat rare occurrence over the last several years, the State’s July revenue report surprised to the positive for once suggesting a possible turnaround in its finances. The report, released July 11, 2012, indicated that receipts into the General Fund for the period of June 11- July 10 were $66.5 million (or 5.5%) higher than projected in the June revenue forecast. Similarly, Revenue Act receipts were $45 million (or 5.2%) higher than forecast in June. Receipts across many major sectors of the economy were up on a year-to-year and monthly basis. One important sign of a possible turnaround came from the construction industry, that saw tax payments increase by 12.6% year-over-year, which the report noted was the first double-digit increase since November 2007. Revenue Act receipts, continuing a positive trend beginning back in 2010, are now back to levels immediately preceding the Great Recession that took hold in 2007.
