The job market is booming—so it seems at first glance from the latest monthly figures showing 178,000 net new job additions in March, but this growth is offsetting the 133,000 job losses in the prior month. The ups and downs in job figures in recent months have resulted in only 260,000 more people working than one year ago. Typical annual job gains would be around 2 million. Somewhat slower job growth should be expected, given job cuts in the federal government and from limited immigration into the country.
The small annual job gain is still a gain, so there is a record-high number of workers receiving paychecks in America. For the housing market, that means a record-high number of aspiring homeowners, to the point that the American Dream is eventual ownership.
There is also a record-high number of construction workers. Perhaps due to a worker shortage in the field, the wage rate in the construction industry is quite good at $40.92 per hour, up 4.3% from a year ago, compared with $37.38, up 3.5%, for overall private-sector jobs. Local schools need to get busy teaching trade skills.
The bottom line is that jobs are coming back, though slowly. The pool of potential homebuyers is growing. Actual homebuyers, however, remain muted due to the recent rise in mortgage rates following the oil price shock. But once the oil price turns lower, then we will see what happens.
