By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

Hart and James bring in all of the research economists to discuss the latest data around unemployment, construction, rate cuts, water adjudication and what it all means for the Puget Sound economy.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

The team gets together to chat about the current forecast. Are interest rates coming down? Inflation rates?By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

Grab your Coffee and Popcorn (it will make some sense later) and listen in on what the team has to say in this glorious summer of 2023.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

Spring has sprung in our region – from Tulips in the Skagit Valley to a fresh dusting of pollen just about everywhere else. There is always such a rush of optimism when the cold dark days of winter in the Pacific Northwest yield to the random weather days of Spring – will it be sunny, warm, cold, rainy, windy or some other adjective? All we can say…

Creators & Guests James McCafferty - Host Hart Hodges - HostBy Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

The team starts the discussion with what they are currently understanding from the data, also how different outlooks can come from the same data. Fun with data leads the team to discuss recession and inflation, worldwide, nation wide and right here in our Puget Sound region. Cam will go over the retail numbers. Hart and Bethany have insight on the …

James, Hart and Bethany get together once again to talk forecasting while faced with a global pandemic, global changes throughout the labor market, supply chain, and massive turmoil within the commodities market, and the introduction of a war. Main topics of today's discussion are Inflation, Recession, Federal reserve and interest rate adjustments,…

Join James, Hart, Bethany and newcomer Audrey as they discuss the current events of the economic day! In this episode the team covers the current forecast of Covid impacts, Inflation and recession risk, how supply chain entanglements and what people are spending money on, impacts inflationary pressures. Hart will discuss Fed actions, projections an…

Covid Impacts - Omicron Inflation concerns Supply Chain updates - Imports are rising what does that mean? Employment - natural rate of unemployment, are wages actually rising? Discussion of real wages and median wages. How is the Fed Reacting - or not reacting How do the Retail Numbers look? The Holidays were a little different this year! Housing -…

Hello and welcome to After Office Hours with the Puget Sound Economic Forecaster. This is your home for discussion about the Puget Sound region’s economy. The economy and what is affecting it continues to be in a high rate. We are recording this on October 15th for those keeping score – depending on when you are listening there are going to likely …

If rent is rising, what does that tell us? Listen to the full podcast for more information.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

Are those crazy high truck prices a sign of inflation or a short term affect of supply chain issues?By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

Commercial Real Estate is seeing some changes.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

When we say things like median and average, what does that really mean for individuals in the economy.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

How do we go about counting people who are working, making money, but are not participating in the workforce in the traditional sense? Listen to the full podcast for more information.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

Changing employee markets are impacting how companies find workers.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

3% of employees quit their job last quarter - how does that impact? Listen to the full podcast for more information.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

In all seriousness we touch on the economy as we emerge from the pandemicBy Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

We issued a special edition of forecaster last week to update the forecast we posted in mid-June. Taking this extra step is definitely out of the ordinary but if there is anything we have learned in the past 18 months – not much is ordinary. The team this week includes, James McCafferty, Hart Hodges, Bethany King and Josh Grandbouche. Are we worrie…

What is really going on with home prices? Bethany breaks it down. Listen to the full episode.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

Kids are returning to school, but offices are closing again. What does COVID-19 recovery look like in the months ahead?By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

Some things are just following the natural order of things! As COVID-19 makes things feel like we are standing still, we've continued to get older through the pandemic. Find out how this may be impacting our Baby Boomer population, retirement and the labor market!By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

Got CDL? Find out more about labor shortages and the impact on our national supply chain in the full episodeBy Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

Josh covers the reasons the center decided to publish a special edition - it doesn't happen often. New numbers, new information, etc. Find out more in the full episode.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

It is back to school time and school supplies have become the new toilet paper. List to the full episode to find out Josh's answer to the question.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

Public policy is becoming a much larger ingredient in the forecast – stimulus, low rates, increased child tax credits, monthly stipends, and more. Supply chain issues, consumer demand shifts, minimum wage discussions and more are competing for attention as well. In the Forecaster we explore all of it. We have checked the math three times and it is …

Wondering about employment gains and recovery? The team looks at what might be going on behind the numbers.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

We received a lot of calls after the latest Forecaster was published, asking for an explanation as why the retail numbers were so high. A little bit from Brianna in this trailer, find out more in the full episode.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

What does Hart mean by a rational bubble? How does it relate to residential real estate? Find out more in the full episode.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

A brief listen to the group's conversation about the Regional Outlook and how we see things moving forward with respect to Boeing, to hear the rest of the conversation, check out the full podcastBy Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

James, Josh, Hart and newcomer Brianna cover all the important topics and the effects we can maybe, hopefully, look forward to in the coming months. When asked if there is hope for the future, Hart's answer is "of course there is hope"... but it's complicated. The team parses out what we can expect over the coming months as it pertains to the local…

A little shout out to the Star Wars world; quick notes on the current vaccine rollout.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

Hart talks about the realities of living in a big expensive city as it related to Seattle's number of renters vs. owners. He also touches on the future of residential and commercial construction. Is everyone going to be working from home?By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

Hart starts off the podcast with a discussion surrounding hope on the horizon.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

Cliche but true, Josh breaks down the reality of the tech sector as a buoy to the local economy and the reality of jobs dependent on in-person access.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

We are now a few weeks out from the first publication of our September forecast. It seems like a great time to talk about what we know now and where are current thinking is at. On the show today: James McCafferty serves as the general manager and publisher for the newsletter. Dr. Hart Hodges is an economics professor at Western Washington Universit…

We are now three weeks out from the first publication of our June forecast. It seems like a great time to talk about what we know now and where are current thinking is at. On the show today: Our special guest: Dr Steve Lerch is the Executive Director and Chief Economist for the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council. Steve is respon…

This week James, Hart and Josh are joined by Dr. Brandon Dupont to discuss the continuing impacts of the COVID-19 from a historical perspective. Dr. Brandon Dupont is an Economic Professor at Western Washington University. He has focused his work on topics related to 19th century banking crises and the history of economics. Brandon teaches courses …

Hart Hodges discusses the possible shapes of the recovery curve.By Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

When we've been here beforeBy Puget Sound Economic Forecaster

This week James, Hart and Josh are joined by Dr. Laurie Trautman and Dr. Anneliese Vance Sherman. Dr. Anneliese Vance Sherman, a consistent contributor to the Forecaster, works with the Washington State Employment Security Department as a Regional Economist. To say she has her finger on the pulse of our State’s and region’s employment data is an un…

Join the WWU CEBR team, James McCafferty (our light comic relief), Hart Hodges and Joshua Grandbouche as the go in depth on the December issue of the Puget Sound Economic Forecaster. The 2019 economy has been a mixed bag. While there are a growing number of indicators to be concerned about, some, like consumer spending, remain strong. We have anoth…