The publishing of the 2015 Market Fact Book marks the culmination of months of work compiling information, analyzing data, and placing it into charts and graphs that give readers an at-a-glance view of what’s happening in the marketplace.

None of us became journalists because of a love of mathematics and spreadsheets, but we see a lot of value in gathering and interpreting this data for the benefit of our readers. It tells some interesting stories about the region in its own way.

Of the hundreds of facts and figures in this year’s book, the ones that jumped out at me the most involved taxable retail sales in Spokane County. They crested $8 billion this year and increased a whopping 7 percent in 2014 compared with the previous year. That’s a big percentage increase that speaks volumes about consumer confidence. Remember, just three years prior, taxable retail sales in the county didn’t even crest $7 billion.

Retail sales in construction alone hit $1.1 billion, a double-digit percentage increase from the previous year, and sales of motor vehicles and parts reached $1 billion, up from the previous year. Sales by industry are listed on page 18 of the book, and as you’ll see, activity in most industries has increased. 

Sales in the city of Spokane grew at roughly the same rate as the county as a whole, nearly reaching $4.4 billion in sales last year, up from $4.1 billion the previous year. 

A perplexing data set is foreclosures on deeds of trust in Spokane County. Foreclosures rose throughout the Great Recession, as one might expect, plummeted in 2012, spiked in 2013 at levels higher than those seen during the recession, then fell sharply last year. The yo-yo trend doesn’t make much sense or seem to track with other economic indicators. Several times in recent years, I’ve questioned whether there’s something wrong with the data, but we’ve found nothing that suggests they’re inaccurate. 

What makes them even more puzzling is that foreclosures begun in Kootenai County rose with the recession and fell with the recovery, making a trend line that looks something like a camel’s hump. You wouldn’t think the trends would be that different for the neighboring counties, especially when home sales and home construction have followed similar paths. The average home price has risen much faster in Kootenai County than in Spokane. Perhaps that explains the difference in trends to a large degree. 

Other things to look for include an increase in airline passengers flying in and out of Spokane. It’s not much of an increase, but it comes after falling three years in a row. The number of visitors is up, as is visitor spending. Apartment vacancies are falling, and population is growing, though much slower than other parts of the state. 

Many more interesting stories are told through the charts and graphs. Hopefully, you find one that helps you.