Tag Archives: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Unfilled jobs in the construction sector surpassed the cycle high of 177,000 unfilled positions set in May 2015 and is the highest monthly count of job openings since July 2007.

The start of 2016 has seen slowdowns in many key economic areas. Many in the mortgage industry are anxiously awaiting the results behind the first employment summary of 2016, which will come out on Friday. Will job growth continue its momentum into 2016?

Many in the mortgage industry were anxiously waiting to view the results of the final jobs report of 2015 to see if the Federal Reserve was on track with its rate hike in December or did they act too fast?

Although overall job openings, hires, and separations were little changed at the end of October 2015 compared to the previous month, the construction and real estate and rental and leasing sector experienced some positive changes.

"This should put to bed any doubts about whether the Fed will announce a rate increase later this month. Barring something completely out of left field between now and then, liftoff will commence with a quarter-point rate increase to the target federal funds rate." - Curt Long, Chief Economist for the National Association of Federal Credit Unions

October’s healthy job gains of 271,000 reported in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) October 2015 Employment Summary released Friday make a December liftoff by the Fed an extremely likely possibility.

The lower-than-expected labor market gains for September brought the average monthly job growth for the year down below 200,000, which could possibly slow down the heretofore robust activity for the housing industry so far in 2015.

In the midst of last week’s mixed job’s report and the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting next week, mortgage rates remained largely unchanged for the week ending September 10, 2015.

The number of job openings in construction overall remained stable in July, though hiring in the home construction sector slowed that same month, according the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Association of Home Builders.

The Federal Open Market Committee stated in its July meeting that more labor growth is needed before the Fed decides to raise the federal target funds rate. Will July's job gains drive the Fed to increase rates in September after years of keeping them near zero?