Change...ups and downs...growth...stabilization. We have experienced it all. We are now in a ?new economy.? Boeing, Microsoft, Nordstrom, Starbucks, Weyerhaeuser, Paccar, Eddie Bauer, REI?all names very familiar to us all. These firmly established companies in the Greater Seattle area provided a strong economic foundation.
Recently, Forbes Magazine ranked Seattle first out of 162 metropolitan areas in job growth, income and output in the area?s high technology industries, including aerospace, computer software, biotechnology, telecommunications and Internet companies.
What does this all mean to the newcomer? Simple: It means Seattle, located in King County, is still a great place to live, work, play and visit. The newcomer will find a clean, safe city situated between two beautiful lakes, near mountains, forests and beaches.
Employment
The metropolitan labor market continues to be steady and favorable due to low unemployment rates and modest job growth. The year 2000 experienced an annual average unemployment rate of 3.6 percent. Manufacturing accounted for 13 percent of all jobs. The Boeing Company, the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world, leads the manufacturing sector. The airplane producer is the largest employer and leading exporter in the area. Paccar, K2, Weyerhaeuser and Esterline are other internationally known manufacturers based in the greater Seattle area.
Service sector jobs are always growing. In the past decade, the service sector has had both ups and downs, prompted by consolidation in banking and other financial services. The region hosts a number of service sector giants, and employment is stabilizing. There is a trend toward large banks being headquartered here, particularly Washington Mutual.
High Technology
The Seattle region is ranked fifth in the nation for concentration of high tech business, and there are 230,000 jobs statewide in high-tech industries with 47,000 employed in software companies.
Washington?s center for technology-based industries is located in King County. In 2000, there were 1,100 high tech companies in the Seattle area employing more than 80,000 workers, with Microsoft Corporation being the largest with over 14,000 employees. Although aerospace continues to dominate the high tech sector, biotechnology, computers, electronic industries and telecommunications are growing rapidly. In the past twenty years, the number of jobs in biotechnology has increased tenfold, and computer/electronics jobs have shown a 300 percent increase.
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