{"id":39779,"date":"2019-03-25T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/business\/report-washington-experienced-continued-economic-growth-in-2018\/"},"modified":"2019-03-25T13:30:00","modified_gmt":"2019-03-25T20:30:00","slug":"report-washington-experienced-continued-economic-growth-in-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/business\/report-washington-experienced-continued-economic-growth-in-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Washington experienced continued economic growth in 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
Economic growth in Washington expanded in the first half of 2018, building on the 4.7 percent growth in 2017, according to the Labor Market and Economic Annual Report<\/a>, produced by the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD)<\/p>\n It marked the highest growth rate of any state for the second straight year, well above the 2.2 percent growth achieved by the nation.<\/p>\n The report covers comparisons for 2017 annual statistics, as well as those for the first three quarters of 2018, based on the available data at the time this report was written, in the fourth quarter of 2018.<\/p>\n “Our Labor Market and Economic Analysis (LMEA) team provides great resources for job seekers, employers and policy makers to make informed career, hiring or policy decisions – and this 2018 report is just one of those many resources,” said ESD Commissioner Suzi Levine.<\/p>\n As an overview of Washington state’s labor market and economy through the first three quarters of 2018, the report includes analyses of employment conditions and trends, unemployment, wages, income and employment projections. Economists and policy makers can use this report to track Washington’s economic trends. ESD produces the report with guidance from the Revised Code of Washington, section 50.38.040, Annual <\/a>report<\/a>.<\/p>\n