King County Job Growth To Outpace Nation?

Business leaders seem optimistic about business growth prospects in the Puget Sound area, and as a result expect to see a "soft landing" in housing:

A national economist predicted Thursday that job growth in King County will continue to outpace the nation as a whole next year.

The forecast by Alison Lynn Reaser, chief economist for Bank of America's Investment Strategies Group, underscores the findings of a new survey of business executives from throughout the county who expressed optimism about the local economy in 2006.
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Reaser said she expects a "soft landing" for the U.S. housing market in 2006 in the form of a slowdown in rising home prices from the breakneck pace of "double-digit" growth seen throughout the country, including the Puget Sound region, this year.

Certainly if the jobs keep coming, the worst case scenario for housing is likely a gradual slow-down to more sane levels of appreciation. Realistically though, who can say with any certainty what the job market will look like a year from now?

(Clayton Park, King County Journal, 12.02.2005)