April 1, 2021
By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer
This is the fifth in our extensive series on current negotiation conditions and trends. In this article, we focus on recent economic developments.
Filed Under: CPI, Economic Developments, Economics
March 22, 2021
By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer
This is the fourth part of our early 2021 wages series. In the last article in our 2021 wage series, we looked at all Washington public safety settlements from 2019 to 2021. That report showed a downward trend in 2021 settlements.
Filed Under: CPI, Economics, Wage Settlements
March 22, 2021
By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer
This is the third part of our 2021 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 2019 and 2020 settlements and what we have so far from 2021 indicates that the Washington State public sector wages dropped in 2021 but not as substantially as employers might suggest. We see some wage increases with little substantial “real wage” growth (as measured once controlled for inflation). Whether a growing economy eventually will accelerate these is something we’ll discuss later in this series.
Filed Under: Wage Settlements
March 10, 2021
By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer
In part one of our early 2021 Wage series, we reported on the latest CPI data. That was a look backward at the more recent data. In this article, we look forward to what you might expect for inflation over the near term. Given the goal of achieving a wage increase that at the very least doesn’t fall behind the cost of living, knowing where inflation may be heading is important.
March 2, 2021
By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer
This is the first of a multi-part series addressing current economic conditions and wage settlement trends. In this Winter 2021 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.
December 15, 2020
By Jim Cline
A year unlike any other, health care has been at the center of our attention. What does that mean for insurance costs going forward? Always an important part of the negotiated total compensation, we’re also paying attention to the trends in health care costs.
Filed Under: Economic Developments, Economics
December 15, 2020
By Jim Cline
If you are in or soon entering bargaining, right now it is critical to tracking economic developments and also reviewing the month to month sales tax numbers, in a way that it has never been before. If you are in or soon to be in contract bargaining, expect that the budget and the general state of the economy will loom large as points of discussion.
Filed Under: Economic Developments, Economics
December 11, 2020
By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer
Despite the pandemic and the associated recession, inflation has not completely disappeared, especially in the Seattle metropolitan area. This chart shows the month to month changes in the Seattle and All Cities "W" index from October 2019 to October 2020.
August 17, 2020
By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer
If you are in or soon entering bargaining, right now it is critical to be reviewing the month to month sales tax numbers, in a way that is has never been seen before.
Filed Under: Economic Developments, Economics
August 17, 2020
By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer
Pushed down by the COVID Recession, the important June to June CPI number showed a dramatic, though expected, drop. We say “important” because many Washington public safety labor contracts are tied, directly or indirectly, to the June CPI numbers. As indicated in the recently released Guidebook on “Negotiation in Turbulent Times”, regardless of the CPI, we anticipate challenging bargaining in 2020 and into 2021. We are expecting most employers will at least start with 0% as their base wage proposal, and we’ve already seen one proposal for a -3%.
