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Each day the Research staff takes a look at recently released economic indicators, addressing what these indicators mean for REALTORS® and their clients. Today’s update highlights jobless claims.
- Unemployment insurance claims dropped by 1,000 in the week ending October 8 to a level of 404,000.
- The bad news is that this figure is still above the 400,000 mark; unemployment claims below 400,000 indicate a healthier level of job turnover.
- The good news is that the number of jobless claims has been near the 400,000 level for the last few weeks, bringing down the 4-week average to 408,000.
- Continuing unemployment insurance claims are down to 3.1 million. One year ago, they were 3.7 million and had climbed as high as 6.5 million during the worst of the recession.
- The jobs market is healing but at a very slow pace. This affects home purchases.
- In fact, in our September survey of REALTORS® and their attitudes, “Realtors® reported that many potential buyers with jobs were afraid to buy a home due to fears of a future job loss, salary cut, layoff, or general economic uncertainty.”
- Restoration of economic growth and jobs will go hand-in-hand with a recovery in housing.
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