New Report: WA Works Harder, Makes Less, Spends More
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
September 15, 2008
Seattle, WA – Many Washington families haven't had enough recovery time since the last recession to rally, or even to brace for another downturn. That's one finding from a new "State of Working Washington" report, whose research compares today with other boom-and-bust cycles in the economy.
The report indicates that although job growth, productivity and income are all inching upward in Washington, inflation has wiped out most of the gains. Marilyn Watkins, acting executive director of the Economic Opportunity Institute, says that's what makes this economic slowdown different.
"This is the first time where the typical family, the one that's right smack in the middle of the income spectrum, ended up in a worse position than they had been in at the beginning of the cycle, which was at the end of the 1990s."
Watkins points out the only exceptions are wealthy families. Since 1980, the top one-fifth of families in Washington have seen their incomes grow 41 percent, compared to 12 percent for middle-income families. And about ten percent of the state's citizens live below the federal poverty level.
Watkins says price increases are most noticeable when buying basic necessities.
"The items where we're seeing the greatest rate of inflation right now are in the core parts of the family budget, which means food purchased for consumption in the home; also, of course, in gas prices, as well as in housing costs. Those areas are up more than even the general rate of inflation, particularly here in Washington State."
There is some good news in the annual data. Washington workers are still in better financial shape than those in many other states. Watkins attributes that, at least in part, to the number of union jobs and to the higher minimum wage.
The full "State of Working Washington 2008" is available on the Economic Opportunity Institute's Web site,
www.eoionline.org.