A brisk demand from energy companies and holiday businesses for temporary workers gave Tacoma-based labor provider TrueBlue Inc. an earnings boost in the fourth quarter, the company reported today.

TrueBlue’s net income was up 91 percent for the fourth quarter of 2011 to $7.56 million from $3.96 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. Revenues during last year’s fourth quarter were $350.2 million, up 12 percent from the same period a year earlier. Adjusted for the one-week shorter accounting period in 2011, revenues were up 22 percent, the company said.

For the entire year, net income was up 55.2 percent …

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Boeing’s better-than-expected profits will mean fatter paychecks for the majority of Boeing’s Puget Sound workforce next month.

The company’s 2011 net income jumped by 21 percent, Boeing reported today.

The company’s Employee Incentive Plan will pay non-executive and non-Machinists Union members either 15 or 16 days of extra pay in their mid-February paychecks, the company announced in an internal memo today. About 109,000 employees company-wide will receive those bonuses. In the Puget Sound area, 48,497 workers will see the bonus in their paychecks on Feb. 16.

For a Boeing engineer making $100,000 a year, that means a one-time …

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Seattle-based fashion retailer Nordstrom earned a new honor today.

CareerBliss.com named the 180-store chain as the fourth happiest place to work in its annual survey of 10,000 companies. The results were based on thousands of worker interviews.

The companies were judged on such criteria as work-life balance, worker-boss relations, career advancement opportunities and worker empowerment.

Here’s what the Web site said about Nordstrom:

Nordstrom, a Seattle company that operates 90 upscale apparel stores as well as 90 off-price outlet stores, is no stranger to “best of” lists; it’s often recognized for its customer service. Nordstrom gets high marks

…

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Boeing more than 70,000 Puget Sound-area workers were all expected to show up for work as usual today despite the snow.

The company said all of its plants in Frederickson, Auburn, Renton, Boeing Field and Everett as well as its offices scattered throughout the Puget Sound area were operating normally today, said Boeing spokeswoman Cindy Wall.

Workers who faced unusual difficulties in getting to work were told to contact their supervisors about their commuting situation, said Wall.

Pierce County’s two major health care providers, MultiCare Health System and Franciscan Health System, are closing or shortening hours at some of their clinics today because of the snow storm. All of their hospitals remain open as usual.

At MultiCare, parent company for Tacoma General, Mary Bridge, Allenmore and Good Samaritan Hospitals, the health conglomerate said this morning it is closing all of its primary and specialty care clinics today because of the inclement weather. Its urgent care clinics and hospitals will remain open for business as usual.

MultiCare spokeswoman Marce Edwards said the hospital is contacting patients with appointments …

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Tacoma longshoreman Dick Marzano will succeed Commissioner Connie Bacon as president of the Port of Tacoma Commission for 2012.

Marzano, first elected a commissioner in 1995, has been a longshore worker for almost four decades. He served as president of the Longshore Union Local 23 in Tacoma for six years.

Marzano is a former member of the Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board. He serves on the six-member executive committe of the Washington Public Ports Association. He is past president of that committee.

The new commission president is a member of the Puget Sound Regional Council, the Tacoma chapter of the …

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Small business hiring was down in December both nationwide and in the Seattle metropolitan area, according to a SurePayroll survey, but small business say they plan to increase hiring in the new year.

SurePayroll is an online payroll services company.

Hiring was down 3.2 percent nationwide in December and 7.9 percent in the Seattle area, the survey found. The average small business employee paycheck was also shrinking at .8 percent off the previous December’s numbers nationwide. In the Seattle area, paychecks were off 1.4 percent through November.

But that same survey of small business owners found that 63 percent were …

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Washington saw construction jobs jump by 1,500 positions in November compared with October and 1,000 jobs over November of last year, new figures from the Associated General Contractors of America show.

That put Washington mid-pack among the states and the District of Columbia in year-to-year construction job percentage gains. Washington was ranked 23rd among the states.

Nineteen states saw construction jobs increase from October to November, and 25 states saw November 2010 to November 2011 job increases according to the AGC.

Washington construction jobs in November totaled 137,800.

The top construction job gainer among the states was North Dakota which …

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