Companies added more than 200,000 jobs to U.S. payrolls last month, yet the overall unemployment rate also ticked upward from 6.1 percent to 6.2 percent. If you look at the numbers more closely, however, the higher unemployed figures could signify more people actively job searching this month as opposed to previous months.
While job growth remains steady, wage growth seems to have stalled in the past year. With inflation rising about 2 percent in the past year, wages should be outpacing that at somewhere between 3.5 to 4 percent raises. Wage growth is a key driver in homeowners seeking out new properties and building up assets for down payments.
Another key component in the housing market, as has been mentioned previously in this blog, are the job and financial concerns facing young adults. Burdened with student loan debt and competing against a more educated applicant pool for jobs, adults ages 25 to 34 continue to struggle at maintaining steady, well-paying jobs. Until the landscape improves for this demographic, it might be a while until we see strong movement carried into the housing market.
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