New U.S. Jobs Report Draws Quick Response from Real Estate Industry

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Last Friday's U.S. jobs report drew quick reaction from the real estate industry. The National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun made the following comments on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' February 2017 jobs report:

"The boosts to business and consumer confidence over the past few months is evidently leading to faster hiring. The 235,000 net new job additions in February and 2.3 million over the past year will support home buying even in the face of higher mortgage rates."

Yun continued, "Moreover, the construction job gains of 58,000 is the best monthly showing in over a decade and implies less bottle-necking to homebuilding in upcoming months. One weakness in the report is in the hours worked each week by an average worker, which remained stuck at 34.4 hours. I would like to see this figure rise a bit to assure a clearer sign of future wage growth."