State Economic Outlook Shows Strength

Washington’s booming economy shows no sign of slowing, Gov. Mike Lowry said Friday after a private meeting with his Council of Economic Advisers.

He said the council, comprising private- and public-sector economists, generally agreed that employment will continue to rise - by as much as 3.7 percent in 1997, according to one theory. That would compare with an expected national rise of 1.7 percent, the governor said.

Chang Mook Sohn, the state’s revenue forecaster, said employment growth is especially strong in aerospace, software and the service industry. One weakness, he said, is in international trade.

Boeing employment growth will remain “very strong” over the next three years. From a base of about 71,000 jobs in the region, Boeing will add about 13,000 this year. Four years from now, that total is expected to have swelled to 28,600, he said.

Sohn also said all indications are that inflation will remain at around 3 percent a year over the next few years, and interest rates will remain manageably low.

Lowry, with Sohn’s agreement, said recently enacted tax breaks for manufacturers have helped spur the state’s economy. Sohn said he expects state revenue income to increase, but that he had not performed enough analysis to say by how much. Currently, the state is expected to take in $19.3 billion in the two-year budget cycle that begins next July 1.