In the Third series of economic reports provided by Gardner Johnson Land Use Economics, The Gardner Report points out that our Region has been adding Jobs for the past 12 months ending September 30, 2008. King County posted the most gain with a percentage change of +3.1% in annual employment.

Mason County's percentage change in Annual Employment was -0.5%. This appears to be the norm for a number of rural counties of Western Washington. For Example, Island County reported a -0.1% Change, Grays Harbor had a -0.4%, Skagit at -0.8% and Cowlitz was -1.3%.

The Counties showing positive gains were: Kittitas with a  2.1% change, Lewis at 1.3%, Whatcom 1.2%, Thurston 1.1%, Snohomish 0.8%, Jefferson 0.5%, Kitsap 0.5%,Clallam 0.3%, San Juan and Pierce were even at 0.0%.

While it is true we are experiencing a slowdown and we have six Counties reporting negative year-over-year growth, our Region had an overall employment growth up by over 9000. King County's job growth did jump from 2.2% to 3.1 % on an annualized basis.

Matthew Gardner stated in The Gardner report "we continue to compare very favorably against a vast majority of the country but one should not forget that we are insulated, not isolated".

 In the Third Quarter Regional Real Estate Report, our Region posted around 14,500 closed transactions. According to Gradner this figure suggests "that we have not yet seen decreases in inventory levels that will indicate a more stabilized market." During this period all but one county saw negative price growth over the same period in 2007. Prices in the Region have gone down by an average of 11.4% over the past 12 months.

            The good news is there was limited negative growth occurring in King, Thurston, Whatcom and Kittitas Counties. Also, the fundamental value of Mason County residential real estate is still positive. Our Home Price Escalation over a 5 year period was on average a healthy 36.8%.