For awhile there seemed to be some comfort in the trend of some growth in the U.S., but the recent jobs data served to provide a jolt back to reality. Add sequestration, the maladaptive political environment, and the jittery baseline of ‘new normal’ appears to be back. Yet Seattle has apparently been coping fairly well.
Last year Seattle was 7th nationally in private sector job growth, up 3.46 percent for a total of 49,100 new jobs, Puget Sound Business Journal. Certainly it doesn’t hurt to have employers like Boeing, Starbucks and Amazon in the area. And efforts of government to promote job growth also appear to be positive, such as the Seattle Jobs Plan, Seattle Mayor, Mike McGinn - Seattle Jobs Plan. From investing in communities and youth, to entrepreneurs and infrastructure, private job growth has been affected.
According to data from the Office of Economic Development, unemployment statewide has come down from a high of 9.2 percent in 2011 to 8.2 percent in 2012. For the Seattle Metropolitan Area (MSA), which includes Bellevue and Everett, the unemployment rate was 8.4 percent in 2011 then 6.8 percent in 2012. Likewise Seattle unemployment was 7.6 percent in 2011 and 6.3 percent in 2012, Economic Indicators - Job Growth - Seattle Office of Economic Development.
Another trend affecting job growth nationally is also the return of American manufacturing to the United States. An article from CNN in 2011 made note of this dynamic, which has continued to date, Made (again) in the USA: The return of American manufacturing - The Term Sheet: Fortune's deals blogTerm Sheet.
The revolution in energy production in the U.S. and the relative inexpensiveness of energy compared to other countries is a factor affecting costs and is still unfolding.
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