The Real Estate News Brief: Job Report Whiplash, Rent Payment Delays, Millennials’ Dating Debt

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending October 8th, 2022... what the job market says about rate hikes, where renters need to “catch up” on their rent, and why dating has become somewhat of a financial burden for millennials.

Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review.

Economic News

We begin with economic news from this past week, and signs that the labor market is cooling off. On Tuesday, the Labor Department reported that the number of job openings fell substantially, from 11.2 million in July to 10.1 million in August. That represents the fourth time job openings have declined in the last five months and the second largest monthly drop ever. (1)

The weekly unemployment report on Wednesday also shows that more people lined up for benefits. Initial claims jumped to a five-week high of 219,000, although they remain at historic lows. But the additional 29,000 applications are an indication of a slight rise in lay-offs. The number of ongoing unemployment claims was also higher. They rose 15,000 last week to 1.36 million. (2)

Economists aren’t reading too much into the unemployment report quite yet however. They say the higher numbers could be due to the way the government does seasonal adjustments, although they do expect layoffs to rise gradually as the Fed raises rates.

Economists are also in the wait-and-see mode regarding job openings. Economist Stephen Stanley of Amherst Pierpont Securities told MarketWatch that he wants to see another significant monthly decline in job openings before he’s convinced that the job market is loosening.

And then on Friday, the government reported that companies hired an additional 263,000 employees. That’s a 17-month low and brings the unemployment rate down to 3.5%, but it’s the slowest rate of job growth since April 2021 so it still shows a hiring slowdown.

The labor shortage has contributed to inflation as workers negotiate for higher pay, but those pay increases are also slowing down. Over the past year, they’ve declined from 5.2% to 5%. Economists expect the Fed to continue to raise rates until the number of job openings more closely matches the number of workers available to fill them. The Fed is predicting that unemployment will grow to 4.4% by the end of next year.

An article in Construction Dive points out that the hot September jobs report is also “terrible” for construction. It says that unemployment for the industry as a whole dropped to 3.4% in September, which is below the national rate of 3.5%. And that means that workers have even more negotiating power for higher wages especially among hard-to-find skilled professionals. (5)

Builders are pulling back on their output, however. The Commerce Department reports that construction spending was down .7% in August. Spending for single-family construction accounted for the steepest drop. It was down 2.9%. Spending on multi-family construction was up .4%. (6)

Mortgage Rates

Let’s see where we are on mortgage rates. Freddie Mac says the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was down slightly. It fell 4 basis points to 6.66%. The 15-year was down 6 points to 5.9%. (7) Realtor.com reports that home buyers have lost about $107,000 in buying power because of higher interest rates. (8)

In other news making headlines…

Renters Who Are Behind on their Rent

A new survey shows where renters are struggling the most to pay their rent. According to a report by MyEListing.com, 15% of renter households are behind on their rent right now. In some states, that number is closer to 25%. (9)

It shows that South Dakota, Alabama, and New Jersey have the highest number of tenants who are not caught up on their rent. In South Dakota, it’s 26% while Alabama and New Jersey are 25% and 24% respectively.

As for the five cities with the highest number of renters who are not paid up, Miami tops the list at 25%. Houston, Philadelphia, New York and Chicago round out the top five.

Millennials Are Going into Debt for Love

The dating game is getting very expensive for millennials, and for other age groups as well. According to a Lendingtree survey, 22% of millennials and 19% of Gen Z’ers have gone into debt to pay for their dates. (10)

Almost one in five said they’re going on fewer dates because it’s so expensive and 14% say they are spending less on dates. On average, men spend $104 on a first date while women spend $81.

As for who should pay, in a heterosexual relationship, 54% of men say they should while 36% of women feel that way. Women are more likely to say that costs should be split, and some say whoever asks the other person for a date should pay.

That’s it for today. Check the show notes for links at newsforinvestors.com. While you are there, you can join RealWealth for free. You’ll find a wide range of information on real estate investing and the creation of long-term wealth.

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Thanks for listening. I'm Kathy Fettke.

Links:

1 -https://www.marketwatch.com/story/job-openings-drop-below-11-million-for-first-time-since-fall-labor-market-cooling-11664893013?mod=economic-report

2 -https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-jump-to-five-week-high-of-219-000-sign-of-rising-layoffs-11665060026?mod=economic-report

3 -https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coming-up-u-s-jobs-report-for-september-11665144196?mod=economy-politics

4 -https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coming-up-u-s-jobs-report-for-september-11665144196?mod=economy-politics

5 -https://www.constructiondive.com/news/fridays-hot-jobs-report-terrible-construction/633693/

6 -https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-construction-spending-posts-biggest-drop-1-12-years-august-2022-10-03/

7 -https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms

8 -https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2022/10/06/happy-halloween-mortgage-rates-average-666

9 -https://myelisting.com/commercial-real-estate-news/1304/rent-payments-burden-americans-the-most-in-these-cities-and-states/

10 -https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/10/millennials-going-into-debt-from-dating-lendingtree.html