Tag Archives: Jobs

According to the National Association of Home Builders' Leading Markets Index (LMI), 59 metros have fully returned or even exceeded their last normal levels of both economic and housing activity. Overall, the nationwide economic score rose slightly to 0.88 from a revised April reading. "This means that based on current permit, price and employment data, the nationwide average is running at 88 percent of normal economic and housing activity," the group said.

Wells Fargo's April data suggests consumer sentiment slipped in Florida one point to 79 for the month, largely due to increased concerns about current economic conditions. The concern, both locally and nationally, outweighed a slight increase in confidence about future conditions for the economy as a whole. The Florida index largely reflected the nation's attitude, with the overall index dropping slightly to 82.3.

Employers across the country added 288,000 jobs to their payrolls in April, bringing the unemployment rate down to a new post-crash low. According to the latest report from the Labor Department, the rate of unemployment last month fell to 6.3 percent, down nearly half a percentage point after a flat March. At an estimated 9.8 million, the number of unemployed people was down by 733,000.

A late-month measure of consumer confidence shows sentiment rebounded to a near post-recession high in April, though questions remain as to whether or not that optimism will hold out. The latest Index of Consumer Sentiment, released jointly by Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan, came to a final reading of 84.1 for April, resting one index point below its post-recession peak recorded last July.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) delivered some good news Monday in that 59 of the 350 metro markets have returned to or exceeded their last normal levels of economic and housing activity. In the NAHB/First American Leading Markets Index (LMI), the national average is running at 88 percent, with 11 metros gained year-over-year.

The Department of Labor reported 192,000 new jobs in March, down slightly from February’s revised growth of 197,000 (from 175,000 originally reported). January’s employment growth was also revised, receiving a bump up to 144,000 from 129,000 reported last month. Despite last month’s apparent strength, the overall unemployment rate stubbornly stayed at 6.7 percent.

However, according to an economic forecast report released Wednesday by UCLA Anderson, analysts expect the national GDP to growth by roughly 3 percent now that warmer and wetter spring weather is on the way. Moreover, as the GDP rises, increased housing and business investments and consumer spending should keep that growth rate steady through 2016.

Realtor.com released Thursday its list of the top markets for first-time homebuyers for the spring and summer seasons. To compile the list, analysts compared cities across five categories that have the biggest impact on buyers new to the market: list price affordability, time on market, employment rates, supply of inventory (and thus chances of competition), and—as the mantra goes—location, location, location.

Freddie Mac released Wednesday its first Multi-Indicator Market Index, a gauge of market stability based on current levels of purchase applications, payment-to-income ratios, on-time mortgage payments, and employment. Based on a neutral, stable "0" point, the market in January sat at a score of -3.08, according to the index. However, that's still an improvement compared to the prior month and year.

Although employment is being reduced, the need for certain types of talent is more critical than ever, according to Rick Glass, founder of R.T. Glass & Associates, one of the mortgage banking industry’s leaders in executive search since 1993. However, he said the demand for certain types of skills has changed during the past several years, and continues to change in order to adapt to new regulations and fluctuating markets.