If this amount of additional engineers is not readily available in the state, they will have to come from elsewhere in the country or even from overseas. Traded sector jobs also tend to be high wage jobs, which is another incentive to attract workers from outside the state. High wages not only induce people to change jobs, they also help cover the costs of interstate relocation. Cost is a critical concern especially if in-migrating workers need to bring family members with them. In short, when Washington s traded sectors expand, net migration increases, and when these sectors decline net migration falls.
Net migration has a significant impact on the size of the state labor force.
Since a majority of in-migration to Washington is associated with employment opportunities, these economic migrants tend to be active labor market participants for a long span of time, therefore contributing to the growth of the Washington labor force. The methodology used to forecast net migration includes two steps. This initial forecast is based on a system of equations determining employment in each of the 17 manufacturing sectors, the federal civilian sector, and the producer services sector. The producer services sector consists of business services, legal services, engineering, accounting, research, management, and related services. Next, a single equation model is used which treats Washington net migration as a function of traded sector job growth within the state relative to economic conditions in the rest of the country and California.