Business briefly: Office space in county steady for 3rd quarter
Published 10:11 pm Thursday, October 7, 2010
The amount of office space in Snohomish County held relatively steady in the third quarter, the first positive sign in the office market this year. Office space vacancy rates remained at 17 percent at the end of September, the same rate as the previous quarter, according to a report released by Colliers International. The area’s office vacancy rate has improved slightly from a year ago, when vacancy was at 17.3 percent. Only the eastside office market, including Kirkland and Bellevue, has lower vacancy rates than does south Snohomish County in the greater Seattle area. About 14.1 percent of the total office space in the Eastside was vacant at the end of September. Nearly 17.6 percent of Seattle’s total office space is vacant and roughly 22.9 percent of south King County’s office properties are vacant.
Costco declares quarterly dividend
Costco Wholesale Corp. announced that its board declared a quarterly cash dividend on Costco Wholesale common stock. The dividend of 20.5 cents per share is payable Nov. 12 to shareholders of record at the close of business on Oct. 29, 2010. Costco currently operates 573 warehouses, including 417 in the United States and Puerto Rico.
Microsoft gains access to France’s archives
Microsoft Corp. says it has signed a deal that will give its Bing search engine access to the digital archives of France’s National Library. The agreement signed Thursday will permit Bing to index and search the library’s Gallica online archive of 1.25 million books and documents, from Moliere manuscripts to 19th-century newspapers. Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said Bing will launch its French search engine in the next few months.
Weak economy causes currency war
Fears of a full-blown currency war flared Thursday as the dollar fell to an eight-month low against the euro and the U.S. stepped up pressure on China to let its currency rise. The escalating tension threatened to dominate a three-day conference of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Leaders from both groups warned Thursday that a currency war could destabilize global financial markets at a fragile moment.
2010 federal deficit an estimated $1.3 trillion
The federal deficit for the just-finished 2010 budget year was a little under $1.3 trillion, the Congressional Budget Office said Thursday. The CBO puts the deficit about $125 billion below the $1.42 trillion record posted for 2009. That means the government borrowed 37 cents out of every dollar it spent as tax revenues continued to lag while spending on food stamps and unemployment benefits went up. The CBO figures are based on preliminary data but should be very close to the Treasury Department’s official tally due in a week or so.
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