Tacoma's TrueBlue Inc. says it intends to close 17 more of its branch offices during the fourth quarter because of economy's contraction.

The news of the closings came as the company announced third-quarter earnings this week below Wall Street expectations.

The company, which provides temporary workers to busiensses, said its profit amounted to 38 cents a share. Wall Street had predicted a 40 cent per share announcement.

Net income was $16.3 million compared with $22.7 million in the third quarter last year.

Revenues fell to $387.9 million.

Executives predicted fourth quarter earnings would also fall below analysts' estimates. The company is also considered closing more branches beyond the 17 it announced.

"As a result of the weak economy, demand for our services declined across most of the markets we serve, and we responded by accelerating plans to close branches and implementing other cost controls," said Steve Cooper, TrueBlue's chief executive.

"We will continue to aggressively manage costs during these challenging times," he said.

The U.S. Department of Labor is out today with employment and wage figures for the country’s 334 largest counties.

Pierce County is doing, relatively, not so bad.

Of the largest U.S. counties, 146 saw over-the-year employment growth above the national average of 0.4 percent in March, compared to a year before; 178 saw changes below the average.

Among the 10 largest counties, King County ranked 3rd for employment growth, up 31,000 jobs.

Pierce county reported 273,900 people employed during the first quarter, an increase of 0.7 percent. This placed the county 107th nationwide.

The average weekly wage in Pierce County, $804, marked an increase of 4.8 percent over the first quarter of 2007 and placed the county 35th for percentage wage growth nationwide among the largest 334 counties.

To compare within the state, wages in Spokane County were $701, or 103rd nationwide for the percentage of increase; in Thurston County, $769, and 73rd place; in Snohomish County, $895, and 35th.

Nationally, wages were up 2.4 percent over the year; 183 counties saw higher weekly wages and 137 saw lower wages.

The average weekly wage in the U.S. was $905, the department said. New York County, NY saw the largest wage, at $2,805. The lowest, in Cameron County, Tex., was $523.

Lee County, Fla., saw the nation’s largest employment decline, down 8.1 percent. The largest gain, between March, 2007 and March, 2008, occurred in Harris County, Tex.

Bankrupt retailer Linens 'n Things said it plans to close all of its 317 remaining stores nationwide.

That total includes 11 in Washington. In the South Sound that includes stores in Olympia and at Sea-Tac Village in Federal Way.

The New Jersey-based company had already closed 218 stores this year. The closure notice came after the retailer was unable to find a buyer for the remaining stores.

A closing sales with items marked down as much as 30 percent began today.

The union that represents Boeing's engineers and technical workers spoke positively today about this week's talks with the company calling them "meaningful" and "substantive" in a statement to the press.

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, which represents some 20,600 Boeing workers in the Northwest, said this week's discussion were the "first to engage in real discussion."

But union spokesman Bill Dugovich cautioned the media and members not to overreact to the positive news.

"We didn't agree to anything that was really substantive," he said.

Some media are reporting that this week's discussions greatly reduced the possibility of a strike when the contract expires Dec. 1, he said.

"That's just not true," he said.

The union and the company have been negotiating informally for about eight months, but this week's unmediated discussion is the first where Boeing appeared to seriously bring its case to the table, the union said.

“There was more substantive talk about issues during this two-hour meeting than we’ve had with Boeing since committees started meeting eight months ago,” said Ray Goforth, SPEEA executive director. “We are hopeful this means the company is ready to start solving problems. Collective bargaining does not have to be a titanic struggle.”

Until now, the SPEEA had not spoken with any optimism that its talks with the company would end any more successfully than did Boeing's talks with its largest union, the Machinists.

Some 27,000 machinists have been on strike against Boeing since Sept. 6. About 80 percent of Machinists Union members voted to reject Boeing's contract offer.

While this week's latest session was more productive, the union said, it was nonetheless "heated and confrontational."

Boeing human resources Vice President Doug Kite acknowledged in a message to managers that the meetings have not been easy.

"At times the talks have been difficult -- as is the case in most contract negotiations -- but we also believe that we have made substantive progress," he wrote. "That said, a lot of work remains to be done."

The union said that while the meeting was helpful, the company restated its support for several proposals that the union says are unacceptable including a defined contribution pension plan for new hires, the shifting of medical costs to workers from the company and the continued company refusal to declare Martin Luther King Day a paid holiday.

So-called "main table" negotiations with Boeing start at Oct. 28, at the Doubletree Hotel in SeaTac.

After looking for a buyer for about a year, Bob Mead decided he has to close Art Concepts on Broadway.

Mead said he has some health issues and is over retirement age, so it is his time to get out. The lease for 924 Broadway is up in November, and he is not going to renew unless a buyer comes forward before then.

"Believe me, I would love to stay on," he said.

Mead opened Art Concepts in 1982 in University Place, and moved to its current location in 1994. The doors will close in the end of November, and until then everything is on sale.

A couple came forward looking to buy a few months ago, but withdrew. Mead thinks that with the economy in trouble right now, no one is looking to buy.

"I am not going to hang around waiting for the economy," he said.

The closure of Art Concepts is a loss for Tacoma's artistic community and culture, he said. Whether it is visual, music or theatre, a community benefits from the arts.

"It's a benefit to the culture scene ... it's a shame to see any of these entities go out," he said.

Any interested buyers can call Mead at (253)272-2202. The store is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday to Sunday.