Job gains continued in April, despite rising interest rates and a slowing economy. After a revised 165,000 job gain in March, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 253,000 in April, and the unemployment rate declined to 3.4% from 3.5% in March. In April, on a…
An earlier post revealed that 71% of buyers who were actively engaged in the process of finding a home in the first quarter of 2023 have spent 3+ months searching for a home without success. The inability to find an affordable home remains the most…
The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee raised the federal funds target rate by 25 basis points at the conclusion of its May meeting. Although the communication from the Fed did not explicitly indicate that they are done tightening, language used in their statement signals the…
The Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey (CPS/HVS) reported the U.S. homeownership rate at 66% in the first quarter of 2023, amid persistently tight housing supply. The homeownership rate remained statistically unchanged from the fourth quarter reading (65.9%). It is 0.6 percentage points higher than the…
The count of open, unfilled jobs for the overall economy declined again in March, falling to 9.6 million, after an 11.2 million reading in December, which was the highest level since July. The count of open jobs was 12 million a year ago in March…
Private residential construction spending inched down 0.2% in March, as spending on single-family construction decreased 0.8%. Spending on private residential construction declined for the tenth month in a row amid elevated mortgage interest rates. Consequently, this spending is 10% lower compared to a year ago….
