Archives for March 2013

Wage Series Part 3: Current Economic Conditions — Improving but Not Robust

By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer

This is the third article in our eleven-part series reporting on contract settlement trends.  This article highlights some of the recent economic developments most likely to impact your negotiations outlook. 

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Wage Series Part 2: Recent Wage Settlement Trends in Washington Public Safety Labor Contracts — a Rising, but Not Robust Trend Line

By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer

This is the second article in our eleven-part, Spring 2013 Wage Series. In this article, we take a look at recent contract settlements and examine how those trends vary from recent previous years. Our view of 2012 settlements and what we have so far from 2013, indicates a trend towards rising settlements, but not a full return to the robust, pre Great Recession settlements. Whether a healthy economy will accelerate these trends further, is something we’ll discuss later in this series.

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Wage Series Part 1: Latest CPI Shows Seattle and All Cities CPI Converge

 By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer

This is the first of an eleven-part series addressing current economic conditions and wage settlement trends.  In this Spring 2013 Wage Series, we’ll bring you an update on CPI and economic developments, wage settlements, interest arbitration trends, statewide wage rankings for public safety classifications across the State, and an in-depth analysis of what factors appear to be impacting those rankings and settlements.

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February Washington State Employment Report Confirms Job Surge, Drop in Unemployment Rate

By Christopher Casillas

The Washington State Employment Security Department released its monthly employment report for Feburary 2013 today, confirming that a recent trend in new jobs and a drop in the unemployment rate is no mirage, and may be gathering steam.  The headline numbers indicate that the State, particularly the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett region, is seeing a strong rebound in new jobs, specifically: [Read more…]

State Revenue Forecast for March Shows Modest Improvement

By Christopher Casillas

The State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council released its updated March revenue report and forecast today, showing some improvements in the State’s budget for the current biennium.  The revenue forecast for the current biennium has been increased by $58.8 million by the Council.  This reports an improvement over the November 2012 forecast, based on an increase in likely tax collections during the current biennium.  The State now predicts that revenue into its General Fund for the 2011-2013 biennium, will most likely come in at $30.536 billion.  The Council noted that uncertainty remains high due to unknown economic impacts, like the federal sequestration, as well as ongoing economic crises around the globe.