Tagged: Washington state economy

Democrat Jay Inslee is still ahead in the race for Washington governor. The tally now stands at 51% for the former Congressman.

Inslee says he’s waiting for a call from his opponent, Attorney General Rob McKenna, before he’ll declare victory. But, that didn’t stop him from holding a press conference Wednesday to talk about his transition team.

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington state saw continued job growth last month, and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.3 percent.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington Governor Chris Gregoire says it’s time to look for new sources of funding for the state budget. That’s a major shift from her position a year ago. The Democrat’s comments today came after she proposed another $2 billion in cuts.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – The words “special session” and even “taxes” are on the lips of some Washington state lawmakers after the latest revenue forecast.

Washington State University President Elson Floyd says the university will get out of the current fiscal crisis, but it is not there yet.

The latest polling of Washington voters shows that optimism has taken “nose dive” to an all-time low.

Voters surveyed in The Elway Poll – an independent, nonpartisan analysis of public opinion – were less likely to think things were “getting better” than at any time since the survey began in 1991.

The architect of the survey, Stuart Elway, said people may be openly entertaining the idea that America has entered a “malaise” or “a new normal” of long-term high unemployment, weak spending and, simply, a plain old bummer of an economy like the one Japan suffered for more than a decade.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Thousands of Washington workers who have exhausted their unemployment benefits still do not have jobs.

An Employment Security Department report released Thursday shows that 75 percent of people who have run out of benefits since November 2009 are still out of work.

With Washington’s unemployment hovering at 9.2 percent and the economy sputtering along, new figures released yesterday in British Columbia makes one wonder if going north might not be the next big emigration story.

A new provincial government report predicts the number of skilled workers needed will exceed the supply of workers available by 2016. One million job openings are expected in B.C. by 2020.