Tech and aerospace industries keep Seattle and surrounding cities competitive with the rest of the nation. Based on data compiled by the Seattle Market Review (March 2012), the Evergreen State shows economic growth with several bright spots.
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Seattle ranks in the top three for tech startup jobs around the nation, according to PayScale’s “Tech Startup Hotspot Score.” PayScale takes into account median annual pay and availability of new positions. Only San Francisco and Austin beat out the Emerald City, which enjoyed a median salary of $74,900.
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Boeing is seeing its highest levels of employment since 1999, when 82,400 men and women were employed, according to the News Tribune. At the end of February, the company employed 82,325 workers in Washington and a total of 171,921. The majority of jobs were added in WA, the center of the company’s commercial airplane production and design work.
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Seattle’s unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent in January, down from 7.7 percent in the month prior. Overall in the state, unemployment dropped to 8.3 percent.
What does the labor market growth mean for housing? King County’s inventory is shrinking. Fewer homes were listed for sale in February than at any time since the housing crisis started. And while the U.S. median single-family sale price fell by 2 percent in February — to $308,125 — Seattle has fared better. Its median house price went up by 3 percent to $365,000 from February 2011.
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