The Prosperity Partnership is working to create 100,000 more new jobs in our region by 2010.

Current forecasts by the Puget Sound Regional Council indicate that the region can expect to grow an additional 290,000 jobs by 2010 doing business as usual. We can't take the forecast job growth for granted and the region can do better.

The Prosperity Partnership is mobilizing the region to do better - by doing things differently - with the goal of growing an additional 100,000 jobs beyond today's forecasts.

But it's not just about jobs.

A healthy regional economy is critical to the region's highest aspirations, providing jobs and opportunity for all of us. A healthy economy pays for vital public services like education, criminal justice and transportation. It enables us to better care for the vulnerable, protect our environment and preserve the quality of life that makes this a special place to live, work, and raise a family.

The job data

Current forecasts suggest that our region will grow by nearly 290,000 jobs between 2004 and 2010, at an annual rate of 2.1 percent. Because of the nearly 75,000-job loss due to the recession at the start of the decade, adding this amount of jobs by 2010 would result in an overall increase of nearly 220,000 jobs from 2000-2010.

In order to add an additional 100,000 jobs to the 2010 forecast, the region would need to grow jobs at a higher rate than currently forecast, nearly 2.8 percent per year.

How does this compare to previous economic expansion periods seen in the region? Between 1985 and 1992, the region added jobs at a 3.8 percent annual rate, while more recently, the region achieved a 3.1 percent per year job growth rate from 1996-2000. Overall, the region averaged job growth of 2.7 percent annually from 1980 to 2000.

The Prosperity Partnership is about learning what we can do to move that growth rate up toward the levels seen in the region before, and mobilizing the region around action steps to achieve it.