By Jim Cline
The latest monthly report from the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council reports on some modest improvements. The Council’s August Report contains the following highlights:
- July U.S. employment grew by 163,000 jobs, the strongest labor market performance since February 2012.
- Second quarter GDP growth slowed to 1.5%.
- The Washington recovery remains moderately positive.
- Washington job growth is on track with the forecast while housing construction is improving faster than expected.
- As anticipated in last month’s report, revenue from the July 11 – August 10, 2012 collection period came in below the June forecast after last month’s high positive variance. Cumulatively, receipts are now much closer to their forecasted value.
