Experts say that the region’s attractiveness to retailers is largely a byproduct of its overall economic strength. Washington’s job market is in full recovery mode, gaining 74,600 new jobs between February 2010 and February 2011. And unemployment dropped to 5.9 percent during the period, the lowest among major metro areas, according to Delta Associates.

And while Delta projects the region to add fewer jobs this year — roughly 48,100 — the growth is still ahead of Washington’s 20-year average growth of 35,700 jobs annually.

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