All other things being equal, we should remain in that 100,000 range, or slightly above. |
It?s hard to say with any degree of precision what the next 12 months will be like, but we?re still in a pro-growth mode here. The thing that will cause slowing is the housing supply constraints. Can businesses attract a work force to the area with high housing costs? |
More people are moving here because this is a desirable place to live, which has boosted the demand for the service and health care industry. |
One temporary agency was up 9 percent and one up about 17 percent. But I don?t know what companies were using their help. |
Part of the equation is that there are a lot of people moving into the area not worried about the wages here. |
The monthly decline in the retail sector was a bit stronger than normal because there was more seasonal hiring than over the past couple of years. |
We had a bit more hiring this time around during the holiday, meaning things were pretty good in the economy. So the seasonal reduction is a little more than normal. A lot of the holiday hiring ends in January and it pretty much finishes up in February. |