Unemployment Rises Slightly to 3.6%By Claudia Larsen
The U.S. added 311,000 jobs in February, and unemployment saw a minor increase to 3.6%, according to the latest Employment Situation Summary from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The analysis found that along with the unemployment rate, the number of unemployed persons, at 5.9 million, edged up in February. The unemployment rate and number of unemployed persons have shown little net movement since early 2022. In addition, the report saw notable job gains in leisure and hospitality, retail trade, government and health care. Transportation, warehousing and information, on the other hand, saw decreases. Key highlights:
MBA Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist Joel Kan commented: “Fed Chair Powell communicated earlier this week that incoming data on the U.S. economy continues to show strength and that a higher level of interest rates, and potentially for a longer period of time, is likely needed to cool inflation. On net, this report does show some slowing, particularly with respect to the breadth and the amount of job growth. “We expect the unemployment rate to increase over the course of this year as the economy cools, reaching 4.8% at the end of the year. “The housing market typically benefits from strong employment conditions, but as monetary policy has tightened to combat inflation, bringing about higher rates and tighter financial conditions, homebuyers have pulled back over the past year. We expect the economy to go into a mild recession this year, and with that, a cooling in home prices and lower mortgage rates, which should help affordability conditions and bring a gradual recovery in housing activity.” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun commented: “The job market is improving in the right way. More jobs are being created, but even more importantly, a greater number of Americans are seeking jobs. Consequently, wage pressure is lessening. With inflation tilting toward deceleration—that is, still rising but at a slower rate—the mortgage rate can also tilt downward in the upcoming weeks. Recently, we’ve seen several weeks of rising mortgage rates due to bad inflation figures coming out of consumer prices, producer prices and the GDP personal consumption expenditure deflator. But today’s wage gain of 4.4% is more restrained, and points toward signs of lower future inflation numbers as more Americans find work and more goods and services are produced. Americans faced falling living standards earlier when wages were rising by 6% while consumer inflation was running at 9%. It’s possible that by the year’s end, wage growth will be 4%, while consumer price inflation runs at 3%, thereby boosting living standards. More importantly for real estate, mortgage rates can now steadily trend downward.” For the full report, click here. Claudia Larsen is an associate editor for RISMedia. |
Today's Top Stories |