The deteriorating labor market could include silver lining for real estate as mortgage fees continue to slide and runways open later this month to cut runways.
New data released this week shows that the labor market’s meticulous measurements have plummeted to that low since the Great Recession’s rebound.
The rate of resignation that has been built is a measure of how many construction workers left their jobs in a given month, falling to the lowest rate last month since August 2009, just two months after the end of the Great Recession.
This is according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday. Data shows that construction termination rates have fallen to 0.9%, particularly according to American builders and contractors.
“Indeed, other parts of this data release suggest an incredible deterioration in labor demand across the industry,” said Anneal Bambus, chief economist for American builders and contractors. “While fewer construction workers have left their jobs in July than any other month in the last nine years, suggesting there are widespread concerns about job safety, the layoffs have jumped to the highest level since the first quarter of 2023.”
Basu warns that data may be volatile month after month, and economists will closely monitor subsequent readings when data is released.
Despite the construction resignation fee, the number of open construction jobs actually increased in July from a month ago. From 242,000 in June, 306,000 construction jobs were open.
This data was part of the monthly job posting and labor turnover summary (Jolts) report from BLS, and included other key metrics in the real estate industry. For example, the report showed that there were more unemployed people than job openings for the first time since the pandemic.
It could represent something like a silver lining for real estate, as the labor market could weaken.
Mortgage rates have fallen since mid-August, when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said central bank policymakers view unemployment as a greater risk to the economy than inflation.
Interest rates fell to annual lowest levels during the week ending September 3, according to data released by Freddie Mac on Thursday.
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