The industry may be experiencing some déjà vu from the average monthly job gains for July through September from the same period last year as the latest BLS Employment Summary contains news that is both positive and negative for the housing market.
Read More »The Week Ahead: Will Steady Gains for the Labor Market Resume?
The January employment summary reported approximately half of the monthly job gains than in the previous three months. Will February's report be solid enough to convince the Fed to raise rates again in March?
Read More »The Week Ahead: Waiting to See if the Jobs Report Measures Up
Will the labor market be able to sustain the solid job growth it experienced in the last three months of 2015?
Read More »One Rate Hike Down; How About Another?
Many in the mortgage industry were anxiously waiting to view the results of the first jobs report of 2016 to see if the Federal Reserve was on track with the timing of its long-awaited December rate hike or if the central bank acted too quickly.
Read More »Will November’s Solid Jobs Report Push the Fed to a December Liftoff?
Many economists and analysts have viewed the November employment summary as the final piece of the puzzle in order to encourage a Fed liftoff later this month.
Read More »Stellar October Jobs Report Sets Stage for December Rate Liftoff
“As disappointing as last month’s jobs report was, this one more than makes up for it,” said Curt Long, Chief Economist of the National Associations of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU). “Job gains surged past analysts’ expectations, while the unemployment rate dropped even as 300,000 workers joined the labor force. Meanwhile, year-over-year wage growth hit its highest mark since mid-2009. Barring catastrophe, everything looks set for the Fed to raise rates in December.”
Read More »Will September’s Weak Jobs Report Slow Down Housing Growth?
While the national unemployment rate held steady at 5.1 percent from August (the U6 rate, the broadest measure of unemployment, fell 3 basis points to 10 percent), September saw a gain of just 142,000 jobs, bringing the average monthly total for the first nine months of 2015 down to 198,000, according to the September 2015 Employment Summary released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday. By comparison, average monthly job gains for the first nine months of 2014 totaled 260,000.
Read More »Analysts Still Divided on the Possibility of a Rate Hike Following August Jobs Report
Job gains fell below expectations for the month of August, totaling less than 200,000, but wage growth finally began to show some upward pressure—but analysts are still divided on whether it will be enough to convince the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in their September meeting.
Read More »Will Recent Job Gains Be Enough to Convince the Fed to Raise Rates in September?
Also of note, job gains for May and June were revised upward for a combined total of 14,000 more jobs than were originally reported, according to the BLS. Smoke said the job growth in the last year, which has been consistently strong in the last nine months, has been a key reason for stronger housing demand this year.
Read More »Employment Gains Rebound in April; March’s Disappointing Report Was An ‘Aberration’
March's already low reported job gains total of 126,000 was revised even further lower in April's report, down to 85,000. Combined with February's job gains revision from 264,000 to 266,000 in April, employment gains in February and March combined were 39,000 lower than originally reported. Job gains have averaged 191,000 per month over the past three months.
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