An April Problem Solvers report exposed one fragrance company's empty claims and triggered a state investigation, and now more workers have come forward with similar stories from another fragrance company.

It was just last month that Taylor and Co. -- a Federal Way fragrance distributor -- was caught hiring people for office jobs and promising them big bucks. But according to several job seekers, those office jobs didn't exist.

Terrelya Hoskins and Su Patterson are the latest workers to come forward after the investigation into Taylor and Co.

In all, 15 workers have said that once they were hired, they were hit with an alleged bait and switch. They say there were no office jobs and no pay -- only pressure to attend training and sell huge amounts of perfume.

"Before the training was over that day they would say, 'You need to bring me 10 orders tomorrow. You need to leave here and sell 10 bottles,' and you were required to do that,' said Patterson, who said she actually lost money at the job.

Seattle ranked fifth in the nation for job growth between January 2011 and January 2012, according to a new study released Friday.

The study, by the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, reports that the number of jobs increased by 2.2 percent in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area during the one-year period.

The fastest-growing job market nationally was Houston, according to the study, with a 3.7 percent increase. It was followed by Atlanta (up 3.1 percent), Denver (up 2.5 percent), Dallas (up 2.4 percent) and Seattle.

The report also found that Washington state as a whole ranked No. 15 nationally for job growth during the same period, with an overall increase of 1.49 percent.

North Dakota was the fastest-growing state for job growth, with an increase of 6.3 percent.

Washington state is opening a public auction online Thursday of its state-run liquor stores. The minimum bid is $1,000.

Washington is one of several states that have tightly controlled liquor sales since Prohibition, but voters approved an initiative last fall requiring the state to get out of the booze business.

The state doesn't own the properties where the stores are located. Successful bidders would still have to negotiate a lease, apply for a state retail liquor license and stock their stores, but the retail license would not be subject to local approval as is usually the case.

The state's spirits industry is growing, with more than 20 distillers producing gin, whiskey and vodkas distilled from Washington wheat or potatoes. Washington wineries now top 700.

The privatization initiative was led by wholesale giant Costco, headquartered in Washington. The new law still faces court challenges, but the state is moving ahead with implementation.

You can read the entire Associated Press article here.