The REcession Reaches Washington

During the first half of 2008 Washington’s economy slowed but looked relatively healthy compared to the rest of the United States. In September, as job losses accelerated nationally, Washington, too, began shedding jobs.

By December 2008, Washington had 54,800 fewer jobs than twelve months earlier. Announcements of layoffs by major employers in January 2009, including Microsoft, Boeing, and Starbucks, indicate the state has not yet hit bottom.

Strong job growth in the years leading up to this recession wasn’t enough for many workers to dig out of the economic hole created by last downturn. Having failed to regain income levels and workplace benefits they once enjoyed in 2000, most middle‐income families are ill‐prepared to face the current economic storm.

While total state jobs rose by 8.1% from 2000 through 2007, the working age population rose even faster, at 12% over the same period – meaning the state never regained the employment levels of the late 1990s. Typical family incomes have been rising faster than inflation since 2002. But in real dollar terms, median household income – at $58,080 in 2007 – was also below the $60,000 reached at the previous peak. And now, job growth is slowing again. Unemployment hit 5.7% in July 2008, up from at 4.6% a year prior.

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