Tag Archives: Employment

Of the four indicators tracked, only the employment gauge was in a stable spot, falling half a percent to 92.9 as the economy continues to show strong job growth. Among the other three, payment-to-income ratios and mortgage delinquency improved over the month, climbing to readings of 69.3 and 66.4, respectively.

Americans between the ages of 30 and 49 are the most likely right now to limit their monthly spending, according to Bankrate. The company notes Americans in that age range are in their prime years for buying a house or a car or starting a family.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported there were 4.8 million job openings (3.4 percent) nationwide on the last business day in August, which was the highest level of job openings since January 2001.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is committing $24 million to certain qualified Public Housing Authorities (PSAs) help their residents increase their earned income, HUD secretary Julián Castro announced on Friday.

The index tracks consumer cash flow through a handful of measures—tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages, and new home prices—as an indicator of future consumer spending. Out of those four gauges, only one improved: Real hourly wages were up 0.5 percent from August to $8.86 in September, Deloitte reported.

Fannie Mae's chief economist, Doug Duncan, weighed in on today's employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, saying the GSE maintains its "forecast of solid economic growth" in response to the data released.

Declines were recorded in both component indices: The group's gauge of current economic conditions fell to 89.4 from 93.9, while the index measuring consumers' outlook fell to 83.7 from 93.1.

The index, which debuted over the summer, measures the stability of state and local trends as well as the national market in terms of home purchase applications, payment-to-income ratios, proportion of on-time mortgage payments, and employment strength. Those figures are set against each market's long-term stable range, with index values between 80 and 120 reflecting stability.

Despite growth in mortgage revenues at banks nationwide, industry employment continued to move down in the second quarter as banks cut staff, according to a report from Mortgage Daily. All of the reported cuts in the second quarter happened at banks, which lost approximately 28,600 jobs from the first quarter to the second.

Employment growth in the United States took a sharp downturn in August, according to government figures released Friday. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an increase 142,000 in U.S. payrolls last month, well short of the 230,000 predicted by economists. August's sudden slowdown snaps a six-month streak in which payroll growth came in at 200,000 or higher.