Washington Leads Nation in State GDP Growth; Unemployment at Lowest Level Since 2007
Once again, Washington posted top GDP numbers of all U.S. states: 3.6% for the first quarter of 2018 against 1.8% nationwide. This comes after our leading annual GDP growth in both 2016 and 2017.
A soaring information communication tech (ICT) sector contributed more than half of our overall growth at 1.9 percentage points.
Washington’s tech industry is still hiring as fast as companies can find qualified workers, according to Dr. Joseph Williams, the state’s tech industry sector lead. Williams is one of seven economic development specialists leading a key sector growth strategy created by Governor Inslee and Commerce Director Bonlender.
Real estate, rentals, and leasing added another 0.7 percentage points, with a portion of that also likely ICT-related as well. Read the full U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) release.
Unemployment numbers released last week show Washington at 4.6 percent – our lowest rate since 2007. Some areas of eastern Washington are lagging somewhat, but overall, nearly every part of the state is headed in the right direction. Read more in the Seattle Times article and see full monthly labor market statistics on the Employment Security Department webpage. https://esd.wa.gov/labormarketinfo/monthly-employment-report