Tag Archives: Jobs

The commercial real estate sector is improving, but investors need to be patient and not expect "quick wins," PwC and the Urban Land Institute said in a jointly-released report. According to their findings, "modest gains in leasing, rents, and pricing will extend across U.S. markets from coast to coast and improve prospects for all property sectors, including housing." Overall, recent job creation should bring down vacancy rates in the office, industrial, and retail sectors, and demand for apartments should remain.

Six of the top 10 markets with the most single-family construction activity over the last year are located in Texas and the Southeast, according to a report from John Burns Real Estate Consulting. Because housing demand and employment are usually tied together, single-family permit growth has also meant job growth for many metros. Oklahoma City, Orlando, and Phoenix have all seen substantial employment growth (above 2.5 percent year-over-year) to match the rise in permits.

First time claims for unemployment insurance shot up 46,000 to 388,000--the highest level since July--for the week ending October 13, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected initial claims to bounce back up to 365,000 after seasonal factors drove the number of claims down to the lowest level in 54 months. The weekly increase was the steepest since the end of January 2009, when claims soared 53,000 in one week. Since claims reports are usually revised upward the "final" claims total will likely end up as the highest since January.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance fell to 339,000├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┬Øthe lowest level since February 2008├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┬Øfor the week ended October 6, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The drop was far steeper than market expectations of 370,000 initial claims. In addition, the previous week's report of 367,000 initial claims was revised up to 369,000. The claims filings appeared to lend some credence to the report last week when the nation's unemployment rate had fallen to 7.8 percent, the lowest level since January 2009.

The nation's economy generally expanded modestly from mid-August until the end of September, the Federal Reserve said in its periodic Beige Book report issued Wednesday. The report, the last Beige Book to be issued prior to Election Day, painted a mixed regional picture, with a leveling off of economic activity in New York and a slowing in the pace of growth in Kansas City. Meanwhile, the remaining 10 federal reserve districts reported that "growth continued at a modest pace."

Consumer optimism about the housing market and homeownership improved substantially in September, Fannie Mae reported. According to the GSE's September 2012 National Housing Survey, upward trends in home prices and downward trends in mortgage rates throughout the summer reinforced positive attitudes about where the market is headed. Confidence about the economy also grew in September, marking a turnaround from a year of pessimism. Regarding the overall economy, 41 percent of consumers believe the country is on the right track.

Those who thought they missed their opportunity to take advantage of record-low mortgage rates may not want to let go of hope just yet.

Experts across the country wasted no time in responding to Friday's unemployment report, and the responses ranged from celebration to healthy skepticism. As pundits waged a war over the significance of the report, Capital Economics focused its view less on politics and more on its own breakdown of the data, noting that while the growth was modest, the overall report was encouraging. Wall Street also reacted, with banks and construction firms seeing stock upticks.

The number of markets listed on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) broke the triple-digit mark in October, NAHB reported. A total of 103 housing markets across the country qualified for the list in October, up from 99 in September and the highest level since the list started a year ago, NAHB said. At its October level, the number of qualifying markets approaches nearly 10 times the number from when the index was first created.

The nation's unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent in September--the lowest level since January 2009--as the economy added a below-average 114,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. The 0.3 percentage point improvement in the unemployment rate is the largest since January 2011, when the unemployment rate dropped from 9.4 percent to 9.1 percent.