Marple’s Pacific Northwest Letter, published every other Wednesday since 1949, provides intelligence on the economy and companies of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

In four-page newsletter format that saves time, Marple’s Letter analyzes trends in employment, income, population, imports and exports, housing prices, and output of the states’ economies.

Subcribers get heads-up alerts to changes that affect their businesses – and the region’s most comprehensive reporting on insider trading. For investors-subscribers, Marple's strives to uncover opportunities among more than 200 public companies monitored.

Subscribers, friends, visitors: Marple's Letter has a new publisher and editor. Here's the announcement [PDF will open in new window].

Where does our economy go from here? And how would the Pacific Northwest fare should we have a double-dip recession? We tell you what top economists around the region shared with us regarding their local economies and what the future may hold for their industries.

Paychecks for managers and professional employees in the Northwest grew more this year than they did in 2009. That’s according to an annual survey conducted by a Seattle-based compensation and actuarial consulting firm. We’ll highlight for you other trends from this year’s report.

Wheat farmers are keeping a close eye on futures prices, which have been bouncing around at higher levels the past few weeks. Now barley has been swept up into the wild ride. We’ll tell you how significant these crops by volume are in the Pacific Northwest and how much money they are worth.

Do you think your city’s annual festival is only a drop in the community’s economic bucket? Actually, it probably is way more than that if the Pendleton Roundup is any guide. As the 100th running of this widely popular rodeo gets set for mid-September, we break down the economic impact it has on the local economy.

Twice as many metro areas’ unemployment rates declined in June compared to a year ago. You can see which camp your community belonged to in this issue’s PNW Snapshot.

At least one Pacific Northwest industry has escaped the brunt of the recession’s punch: craft beer. We already lay claim to being a hotbed for microbrews and brewpubs, but each of our states stands out in its own way when it comes to producing craft beer. Learn why the number of craft breweries has continued to grow, what sets us apart from the rest of the nation, and what’s in store for our region’s brewers.

Agricultural exports from the Northwest were on a six-year climb that ended last year. We’ll tell you what put the brakes on an impressive string of growth and why farmers’ fortunes are sure to turn around sooner rather than later.

Most of the banks’ quarterly earnings reports are in now. The recent filings echo what the early reports told us. And recent activity by regulators reminds us that although the worst may be behind us, we still face turbulence.

Was your paycheck smaller last year? It was for most people around the Pacific Northwest. In this issue’s PNW Snapshot, we show you the breadth of the decline in incomes and the only four metro areas that took home more pay in 2009 compared to 2008.

Banks have been filing their quarterly earning reports over the past couple weeks and the news is looking up for the most part. While you still find red ink on some income statements, losses are narrowing and profits are growing in many cases. See which banks are leading the way in the recovery and which ones still have a lot of work ahead of them.

The region lost a lot of jobs last year, according to a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report. On the county level, the picture was bleak. Even the county that fared best in the Pacific Northwest last year lost jobs. We’ll tell you where our larger counties stack up in terms of employment and wages in 2009.

What is Boeing trying to tell us? We tell you how two top Boeing executives seemingly contradicted themselves over a span of two days regarding the aerospace giant’s long-term plans for its Puget Sound manufacturing facilities.

Don’t think exports are important to the Pacific Northwest’s economy? Think again. A recent study estimates how many people export-related businesses employ and what those jobs pay.

What’s the latest news in foreclosures? This issue’s PNW Snapshot will show where our states rank nationally in foreclosure filings last quarter and whether the real estate market is recovering.

A big part of this recession has been about the loss of jobs, and the recovery has been all about the lack of them. Government has been the most stable employer during this economic downturn. But that soon will change. We’ll show you how government and private employment has changed over the last decade, and what two factors will be forcing hard decisions for our states’ leaders.

Alaska’s government runs on oil revenues, so when oil started pouring into the Gulf of Mexico from a BP well, you can bet state residents and oil executives paid close attention. We’ll tell you what the impact will be on the state’s oil industry, and why future drilling will still be more likely to occur offshore rather than onshore.

How is the recovery going? If the region’s ports are an indicator, business is looking up. Learn how much more cargo is being handled on the docks compared to 2009.

How much do you pay to eat each month? The cost varies widely depending on where you live in the Pacific Northwest. See where your city stacks up in this issue’s PNW Snapshot.

Has your city been walloped by the housing crisis or are you among the fortunate areas to have escaped the worst of its wrath? The downturn’s effects have been especially pronounced in some places more than others. In one of our states, nearly a quarter of homeowners with mortgages are underwater. We’ll tell you which areas of our region are at risk of more pain as well as what hurdles our housing market needs to overcome to build a sustainable recovery.

The Pacific Northwest’s economy is a mixed bag these days. Some states are recovering along with the national pace, while some are barely hanging in there, according to one index. Employment plays a big role, and that’s holding back those states that are lagging. Learn how the recession and recovery have affected each of our states differently.

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released its population growth estimates for large cities. Our fastest-growing city might surprise you. See where our cities rank in this issue’s PNW Snapshot.

Most would say the current economy is a rough time for a company to have an initial public offering, but that’s not stopping three Northwest-based firms. We’ll tell you what each brings to the table in terms of growth potential and risks in this exclusive Marple’s analysis.

Temporary employment is a good harbinger of where the labor market is heading, and the landscape changes by the month. We survey staffing firms around the region to see what is driving the numbers, which jobs are in highest demand, and the lingering effects of the Great Recession.

One of the states in our region has the lowest rate per capita of bankruptcies in the country. We’ll tell you which one as well as where our other states rank in this issue’s PNW Snapshot.

Tourism is a multi-billion dollar industry in the Pacific Northwest, and last year wasn’t a good one for most businesses that depended on it. What’s the forecast for this year? Will the tourists come back? Will they open their pocketbooks and wallets? We’ll tell you what insiders and experts are forecasting for the region as we head into the summer travel season.

The single-largest private industrial project just cleared a substantial hurdle on its way to getting built. How much bigger is it than prior large-scale efforts? Read about where this facility is being built, how much will it cost once it’s complete, and how many jobs it will supply.

Numbers don’t lie, and the latest figures from the federal housing agency paint a bleak picture of what home prices are doing in metro areas across the Northwest. All but one city’s home values depreciated from where they stood a year ago. Learn which of our region’s cities ranked last in terms of depreciation, and which city had the largest gain in the country.

Have you wondered how many people have lost jobs in this recession compared to previous downturns? In this issue of Marple’s we give you a comprehensive comparison between this recession’s effects on our five states and the 10 recessions that swept across the nation between 1948 and 2001. We put the depth and duration of this recession in context with the worst, mildest and the median recessions to hit the Pacific Northwest.

How is the region’s economy these days? Community bankers have a front-row seat to our economic health, and they see good mixed in with the bad. Learn what bankers from the Puget Sound to Kalispell had to share when they recently gathered at a Seattle conference.

States are feeling the pain in their wallets just like the rest of us. Our five states saw their tax revenues in the fourth quarter of 2009 fall from the same period in 2008. We’ll tell you which states saw some improvement from the third quarter and which might be tightening their belts even more.

Metro areas across the Northwest are still posting high unemployment rates. See which five had their unemployment rates dip compared to last year in this issue’s PNW Snapshot.

Quarterly bank earnings are in around the Pacific Northwest. The best thing you could say about the quarter is that it is over. Balance sheets were still full of red ink, but we’ll tell you which banks are looking better in 2010 than they were in 2009.

The Great Recession hit cities across the region in varying degrees, but perhaps none illustrate its extremes better than the Tri-Cities and Bend. Using a number of measures, we illustrate for you how these cities may only be separated by 250 miles, but are currently a world apart economically.

Which of our cities posted the biggest gain in personal income from 2007 to 2008? The answer, provided by a recent Bureau of Economic Analysis report, might surprise you.

Northwest ports provide an accurate gauge of our region’s and nation’s economic health. This issue’s PNW Snapshot gives you a scorecard with year-end data for selected commodities at several of our ports. Learn which ones weathered the storm better than others.

Montana is one of the windiest states in the country, and firms are lining up to take advantage of that resource. Wind turbines — the kind you find across the eastern parts of Washington and Oregon — are starting to become more common in Montana now, too. Read about how much bigger the state’s wind industry can grow and what’s held it back so far.

The stock market has been on a major run since hitting its low in March 2009. How have Northwest companies’ stocks fared during this epic bull run? The rising tide has lifted them all — one is up more than 1,000% — and most are outpacing the big indexes. Learn which firms are leading the way.

The Census recently put out a report on how fast (or slow) metro areas grew from 2008 to 2009. The recession’s certainly chilled some of the former hot spots around the Northwest. We’ll tell you which city is still among the fastest growing in the country and which has seen its growth hit the brakes.

Where do our states rank in foreclosures in the latest round of statistics? A little better than last time, it turns out. This issue’s PNW Snapshot gives a glimpse into where our five states stand nationally in foreclosure filings.

These days you generally don’t want your state compared to Greece if you are talking about debt. But Washington and Oregon fall into that category as their budgets get pummeled by the economy. We’ll tell you just how much money the states we cover are borrowing as they make ends meet.

A lot is going on in Alaska with its huge natural gas reserves on the North Slope. Legislators are taking a closer look at keeping the gas in-state and using it to heat homes in Fairbanks and Anchorage. Meanwhile, the two projects that would build a large-diameter line to send the gas to the Lower 48 both have had significant developments recently. Read about which one stands the best chance of getting the green light, and which project you may be hearing more about in a couple of years.

What’s a few billion dollars among friends, right? Turns out a Washington aerospace company over-reported its export totals by billions over a five-year period. We’ll tell you how it happened and what big a difference it made for the state’s export totals.

Most people couldn’t point out Moses Lake or Grant County on a map of Washington. But this rural area is on the map for numerous large high-tech and manufacturing companies. They’ve plunked down more than $2 billion to build plants in this Eastern Washington county. We’ll explain what’s drawing firms here and who is the latest to announce plans for a factory.

Your wallet feeling lighter? If so, you aren’t alone. All five states we cover posted drops in personal income from 2008 to 2009. See how bad the damage was in this issue’s PNW Snapshot.

It wasn’t that long ago that the economy was roaring along, driving the growth of state budgets with it. But the Great Recession has severely cranked down tax collections and other revenue the past two years. Read about how much less income states have brought in over the past two years, and what the forecast is.

Everyone knows how unemployment has been on a steady trajectory upward most of the past two years, but there is more to the employment picture than just that. Two Pacific Northwest states are among the worst in the nation when measuring underemployment. We’ll explain the damage inflicted by the recession on our region’s labor market.

The RV industry has had a strong Northwest presence since the 1960s, but it got a lot smaller earlier this year. Learn which company went away, how the others are faring, and what the future holds for this once-bustling manufacturing sector.

Northwest banks are in the headlines on a regular basis these days — for good news and bad. We sum up which financial institutions are under a close watch by the feds and some of the plans other banks have to raise capital.

Unemployment rates in our region’s cities all climbed compared to year-ago numbers. This issue’s PNW Snapshot presents the rates for the Northwest’s metro areas in an easy-to-read format.

The wood products industry has been the economic foundation for much of the Pacific Northwest, but last year was one of the toughest in its history. Surging lumber prices in recent months have given hope that a turnaround is in the offing. Read what analysts and industry insiders expect for this year and beyond.

While Boeing continued its year-long effort to pare down its workforce, its top boss was sending a different message. Learn how the two actions contradict each other and what it means for the Puget Sound economy.

Home values in our five states continued their slide in the last quarter of 2009. Only one city’s homes gained value in the Northwest. Meanwhile, another city’s home value depreciation was the worst among metro areas in the nation. Learn which cities stood where in this issue’s PNW Snapshot.

Very few exports escaped the clutches of the global recession in 2009, according to recent trade data. We analyze which commodities were hit hardest and which ones persevered. We also tell you which of our five states’ exports fared markedly better than the others.

Are state and local governments writing checks they can’t cover? Some are doing better than others. That’s the gist of a report by the Pew Center for the States. We’ll tell you why some of our states are having a tough time making sure they’ll be able to pay for the pensions and benefits they promised to their workers.

Who sold the most stock of a Northwest-based company in 2009? And which insider bought the most stock in one of our region’s firms? Marple’s compiled the data and will show you the top-five insider buyers and sellers from last year in this exclusive report.

Which of our states had the highest rate of foreclosure filings in January? Which had the lowest? This issue’s PNW Snapshot puts the Northwest’s housing woes in perspective.

Just about all of the quarterly bank earnings reports are in for the last quarter, and the news wasn’t great. We sum up what bank presidents had to say in their reports about 2009, as well as their forecasts for 2010. We also talk to some of the top banking minds in the Northwest for insight you can find only in Marple’s.

Oregon voters recently gave a nod to their legislature’s hike in taxes on higher-earners and businesses. We’ll show you where the new taxes place Oregon in a handful of business-friendly rankings, as well as how the other states we cover fare.

Unemployment continues to climb across the Northwest. In the PNW Snapshot, you can learn how your city is handling the recession compared to other metro areas across the region.

December was a bad month for foreclosure filings around the Pacific Northwest. All five states we cover posted gains. Find out which state took the worst hit and why.

You don’t get many chances to invest your money alongside the revered Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett. We'll tell you about a recent initial public offering for a Northwest-based company that offers you an opportunity to do just that.

Bank earnings reports are beginning to trickle in. We dig inside the reports to get a sense of what 2009 might tell us about 2010.

Last year was a challenge for business owners and managers trying to make a profit or just stay afloat. We share some of the lessons decision-makers across the Northwest learned about running their firms during tough times.

How wealthy is your county? Our regional scorecard — PNW Snapshot — shows where the largest counties in the region stack up when measuring weekly wages.

Seattle and Tacoma are among the busiest ports in North America. But the economic winds are shifting for port managers all along the West Coast. We’ll tell you the two biggest issues facing port officials in the coming years, as well as what 2010 may bring.

It was the same story, told in two communities 600 miles apart: Paper mills closing, and taking away well-paying jobs. The closures are another byproduct of the recession and consumers’ changing buying habits. We'll lay out exactly how large the financial blow will be to their respective cities.

The first bank to fail nationwide in 2010 was based in Washington. We explain what brought it down and why the same cause will plague other banks across the region this year.

Are the jobs here? Not just yet in the Northwest. Unemployment rates for cities in our region were up sharply over the same time last year. Learn which communities are best fending off the recession when it comes to employment.

The fortunes of Alaska’s commercial salmon fishermen are susceptible to a wide range of factors, but 2009 was prosperous for them. And that is a big boost to Alaska’s overall economy. Learn just how big a role salmon play in Alaska’s economic output and how many jobs they create.

Personal income is a closely watched indicator of a state’s economic health. A recent federal report shows how states fared when measuring personal income in the third quarter. The state posting the fastest growth was right here in the Pacific Northwest. We’ll tell you what fueled this state’s big gains.

The Northwest has always been an attractive place to live. And a recent Census Bureau report continues to back up that claim. Read about how many people the region has added since the 2000 census and where they are coming from.

China is a key importer of U.S. goods, and the Pacific Northwest has been a big beneficiary of that. This issue’s PNW Snapshot illustrates each state’s top export to China and its value.

The Pacific Northwest’s wine industry’s reputation as a major player was solidified recently when a Washington wine earned the No. 1 ranking on a prestigious list. We show you how much the wine industry has grown in Washington and Oregon and why it has more economic muscle than you might think.

News coming out of state capitals from the five states we cover has been bleak this month. No matter if your state depends on personal, sales or income taxes, or taxes on oil, revenues have shrunk. We lay out the specific challenges facing the state budget makers who convene next year.

Where does your city rank in terms of economic strength? We highlight a recent report that shows which cities are outpacing their peers when it comes to jobs and other indicators.

The percentage of office space being unused around the region provides a good indicator of the economy’s health. Downtowns, suburbs, and smaller cities all are being affected differently. See which markets are holding up best in the commercial real estate market.

The next possible bubble to burst could be in commercial real estate loans. Lenders are helped by guidance from the FDIC to head off another crisis. We’ll tell you how banks are working with struggling borrowers in order to keep the economic recovery moving forward.

One in four borrowers underwater? Not in the Northwest. We take you behind the headlines and point out how the region’s homeowners are faring better than the national average when looking at how much they owe on their homes.

It isn’t a good thing to have your economy compared to California’s these days. But that’s what a recent report did with Oregon and its fiscal troubles. As legislators prepare to convene early next year, we'll show some statistics that paint a picture of the challenges they’ll face come budget time.

House prices continue to depreciate. This issue’s PNW Snapshot shows you which cities in our five states are holding their ground best, and which continue to take a beating.