Taxable retail sales in Yelm for the first quarter of 2023 were up dramatically from their 2022 total and nearly double their 2019 total for the same quarter.
According to the Washington Department of Commerce, figures for 2023 in the first quarter were $89,632,549, which is well above 2022’s first quarter total of $78,839,795. In 2019, before the pandemic, first quarter taxable retail sales were $55,516,513. Taxable retail sales are the total value of goods and services sold by businesses to customers subject to sales tax. This includes clothing, electronics, furniture, vehicles, appliances and other goods.
The minimum combined 2023 sales tax rate for Yelm is 9.3 percent. This includes the Washington State sales tax of 6.5 percent and Yelm’s sales tax rate of 2.8 percent. In 2022, fourth-quarter sales in Yelm were $94,472,449; in the third quarter of that year, they were $101,122,803. In the second quarter of that year, sales totaled $91,876,403. In 2022 total, Yelm had $285,557,811 in taxable retail sales.
In Rainier, taxable retail sales for the first quarter of 2023, $8,029,465, were nearly double that of 2019’s total, 4,553,418. It was also up a million dollars from the previous 2022’s first quarter figure, $7,033,742.
The United States’ economy saw its GDP grow by 2.4 percent in June, largely fueled by consumer spending. Despite high prices from inflation, economists said it was at 2 percent last month, and the labor market continues to be resilient. The U.S. unemployment rate was 3.6 percent in June, while Washington’s was 3.8 percent. Thurston County’s unemployment rate was 3.0 percent.
