National home prices grew at an unsustainable pace in December, supported by strong demand and record-low inventory. Home price appreciation is expected to slow in the coming quarters as rising mortgage rates price some homebuyers out of the market. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, reported by S&P Dow Jones Indices, rose…
Despite the omicron surge, the U.S. job market experienced solid gains. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 467,000 in January, and the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 4.0%. Additionally, job gains in December and November were much stronger than initially estimated, according to revisions of the establishment survey data. Construction industry employment (both residential…
Real GDP growth accelerated in the fourth quarter of 2021 despite omicron’s spread. This quarter’s growth reflected strong gains in private inventory investment and consumer spending. According to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 6.9% in the fourth quarter of…
Average hourly earnings for residential building workers have been growing fast recently, driven by the tightening construction labor market. Last Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the unemployment rate declined to 3.9% in December, the lowest rate since the pandemic. As the labor market remains tight, wages have increased rapidly, particularly in…
Job gains slowed sharply for the second straight month in December as the Omicron variant began to spread. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 199,000 in December, and the unemployment rate fell to 3.9%. Construction industry employment (both residential and non-residential) totaled 7.6 million, with 22,000 construction jobs added in December. Residential construction lost 4,100 jobs while…
According to the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), nationally, the primary residence represents the largest asset category on the balance sheets of households in 2016 (as shown in Figure 1 below). At $24.2 trillion, the primary residence accounted for about one quarter of all assets held by households in 2016, surpassing other financial assets1…
