Tag Archives: Bureau of Labor Statistics

The number of job openings in construction overall remained stable in July, though hiring in the home construction sector slowed that same month, according the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Association of Home Builders.

The Federal Open Market Committee stated in its July meeting that more labor growth is needed before the Fed decides to raise the federal target funds rate. Will July's job gains drive the Fed to increase rates in September after years of keeping them near zero?

In May, the amount of open, unfilled construction sector positions increased over a slightly downwardly revised April estimate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) and National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) analysis presented by Robert Dietz on their Eye on Housing blog. The number of construction jobs increased from 137,000 in April to 149,000 in May on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Job gains totaled 223,000 in June as the unemployment rate dipped to 5.3 percent, according to the June 2015 Employment Situation released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Thursday. With June's payroll increase, the average monthly job gain for the last 12 months in the United States is 250,000. Job gains in April and May were revised downward to 187,000 and 254,000, respectively, which was a combined 60,000 lower than previously reported.

In response to the positive Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment data released on Monday, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose above four percent this week for the first time since November 2014. Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), revealed that the average fixed mortgage rates averaged 4.02 percent for the week ending June 11, 2015.

Amidst the positive May job reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), consumer attitudes concerning the housing market showed vast improvement for the month of May, according to results from Fannie Mae's May 2015 National Housing Survey. These positive changes also support the case for an increase in housing activity this year.

While the nation's unemployment rate (5.5 percent) and the number of unemployed persons (8.7 million) for May 2015 remained virtually unchanged from the previous month, the number of jobs added in May increased substantially from April up to 280,000, according to the May 2015 Employment Summary released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released their “Employment Situation—April 2015” report today, showing that the total number of non-farm payroll employment has increased by 223,000 in April, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged from the previous month at 5.4 percent.

After months of solid gains with the administration touting that the labor market is at its healthiest level since the turn of the century, payroll employment increases for March fell well short of expectations with just 126,000 jobs added, according to data released the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.

One area where Duncan said needs improvement in order for the prediction of the economy "dragging housing upward" to come true is in the area of wage gains. According to the BLS employment report released last week, the average hourly wage increased from January to February by only 3 cents up to $24.78 – after rising by 12 cents from December to January.