The latest jobs report indicates that nonfarm payroll employment rose by 225,000 in January, shattering market expectations of 165,000. The real surprise, however, was the growth of construction-related jobs, which rose by 44,000 alone. BUILDER Magazine says most of the gain occurred in specialty trade contractors, with increases in both the residential (+18,000) and nonresidential (+17,000) components. Construction added an average of 12,000 jobs per month in 2019.

In January average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 7 cents to $28.44. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.1%. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and non-supervisory employees were $23.87 in January, little changed over the month (+3 cents).

This is a positive development for housing, as the home building sector has been challenged by labor shortages and high costs for several years. “Wages grew at 2.9% on a year-over-year basis in December 2019, but firmed to 3.1% in January,” says BUILDER. “Increasing wage growth is a welcome sign for households looking to buy a home this spring.”

The National Association of Realtors’ chief economist Lawrence Yun, wrote, “The unemployment rate remains at super-low levels across all ages, all ethnic groups, and every other grouping of workers. That’s due to the unrelenting 20 million net job additions for over a decade since 2010.” He goes on to say that even in commercial real estate, vacancy rates have tilted down, implying more construction is needed.

Source: NAR, BUILDER, TBWS