OLYMPIA — Economic forecasters who had projected that Washington’s economy would begin accelerating in the months to come are now growing increasingly pessimistic, warning Thursday that the risk of slipping back into recession has grown significantly.
The state’s chief economist, Arun Raha, said the economy is struggling against headwinds caused by debt battles in the United States and Europe. He had previously forecast that those issues would only cause short-term troubles, but he now expects them to continue to damage consumer confidence and suppress the state’s recovery.
“It takes a lot to turn me pessimistic, but I have turned pessimistic now,” Raha said.
The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council said state tax collections are already 1.3 percent below a forecast issued in June, and Raha expects that gap to widen in the coming months. The June forecast projected that the state would have a $163 million buffer for the two-year budget cycle, but the weak tax collections in recent weeks have already wiped out about $30 million of that.