Each year, design pros eagerly await the Color of the Year announcement from the experts at Pantone®. No matter what the hue, it’s always sure to make a splash—and home goods are no exception. From appliances and décor to tile and paint, manufacturers will start rolling out options to match (and complement) the Pantone Color of the Year.

Idaho added 14,700 new jobs in 2017, representing a growth rate of 2.1%. Although this is still a reasonable figure—and well above the total U.S. rate— this rate continues a cooling off we’ve seen over the past few quarters, which is to be expected as the state has essentially reached full employment.

The Washington State economy added 104,600 new jobs over the past 12 months. This impressive growth rate of 3.1% is well above the national rate of 1.4%. Interestingly, the slowdown we experienced through most of the second half of the year reversed in the fall, and we actually saw more robust employment growth. The counties contained in this report added 13,597 new jobs over the past 12 months...

The State of Oregon added 30,600 new jobs over the past 12 months, representing an annual growth rate of 1.7%. Although job growth continues to slow, solid gains were still seen in the Construction (+7,400), Education & Health Services (+6,400), and Leisure & Hospitality (+5,200) sectors. Oregon’s unemployment rate was in record low territory for all of 2017, diving to 3.6% in May of...