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Posts published in “Day: March 15, 2011”

Seattle’s turn?

March 15, 2011

And they're already anticipating what a 9.0 quake, or higher, might do to Seattle.

This article runs through it in some detail, with the eventual recommendation to be prepared to live three days alone, without food or water.

From their report of a 2008 study: "In that study engineers looked at 575 buildings from the outside and further that estimated 850 to 1,000 old brick buildings that date back to the 1930s would be at risk if a 6.7-magnitude earthquake occurred on the Seattle fault, which runs through the center of Seattle and Bellevue. The Seattle fault is widely considered the most dangerous quake threat to Seattle. Scientists have predicted that a significant earthquake on this fault could cause widespread devastation and at least 1,000 deaths in the city because of collapsed buildings, fires and other infrastructure failures."

WA/OR: A little less unemployment

March 15, 2011

The headlines tend no to be so large when unemployment drops as when it rises, so noted here: Unemployment in Washington and Oregon is dropping. Not enormously, but dropping.

Oregon added 9,800 jobs in February, more than in any month since the economy was riding high in 1996. The unemployment rate dropped only a little, from 10.4% to 10.2%, but the decline has been steady, and the outlook now is that Oregon may finally slip below that dreaded 10% mark in the next month or two.

Especially interesting was the addition of 1,200 construction jobs; the seasonal norm in February is the loss of several hundred jobs in that area.

Washington's job gains, meanwhile, were smaller in size - just 800 - but that contributed to dropping the unemployment rate from 9.2% to 9.1%. (Washington may soon drop below the 9% level.) And there too, construction seemed to be one of the significant drivers behind the improved outlook.