There are always a few items we’ve read during the week that deserve more attention but don’t make it into our regular posts. So we bundle them for the Friday roundup.
Here’s this week’s bundle:
Wall Street Journal: Building Permit Delays Choke U.S. Housing Supply, Study Shows
The supply of new housing in the U.S. isn’t keeping up with demand in part because of local delays in getting building permits approved, according to new research set to be released next week by real estate tracker Trulia.
The study finds that in metro areas with longer delays in building and zoning approvals, developers are less quick to respond with new housing units when prices are rising and demand is high.
Seattle Times: Seattle rents now growing faster than in any other U.S. city
The typical monthly rent in the Seattle metro area surpassed $2,000 for the first time this spring and is up 9.7 percent in the past year — growing at nearly four times the national average, Zillow’s data shows. That’s more than second-place Portland (up 9 percent), and third-place San Francisco (up 7.4 percent).
New Geography: The U.S. Cities Creating the Most White-Collar Jobs, 2016
In many ways, the business and professional service sector may be the best indicator of future U.S. economic growth. It is not nearly as vulnerable to disruption as energy, manufacturing or information employment, and more deeply integrated into the economy, including professions like administrative services and management, legal services, scientific research, and computer systems and design. In a pattern we have seen in other sectors, much of the growth is concentrated in two very different kinds of places: tech-rich metro areas and those that offer lower costs, and often more business-friendly atmospheres.
Seattle Times: New teachers rate higher academically than in the past
Analyzing data from nearly 3,000 recent teacher hires teachers across the country, researchers at the University of Washington, Stanford University and the Rand Corporation found the profession is attracting applicants with higher test scores, who report much greater job satisfaction than those entering the classroom 15 years ago — especially in cities.
