Oregon Public Broadcasting

The economy is on the mend, but Washington's job recovery will be slow.

The state's economic forecaster predicted Thursday it will take another two years to replace the jobs lost during the recession. Correspondent Austin Jenkins had details.

The economic recovery hiccupped in May. The jobs report was disappointing. Retail sales dropped. Even so, Washington's economic forecaster Arun Raha sees bright spots.

The software industry is hiring. There's pent-up demand for Boeing airplanes. And Washington's export market to Asia gives the state an edge.

But Raha says it will be 2012 before Washington recovers the 166,000 jobs lost.

Arun Raha: "Credit to small business is still tight. They're the primary people who cause jobs to grow.  Job growth will be slow because the lag in the construction sector. We've lost a lot of jobs in construction and they're not coming back."

Raha says what the state doesn't get back in construction, it will gain in sectors like manufacturing and life sciences.

So far this year, Washington has recovered about 26,000 jobs.