Publications

JULY 13, 2016

To read this full article you need to be subscribed to Newsline.

Sign in Sign up for a FREE subscription

Rise in unemployment no cause for panic

by Reg Clodfelter

The U.S. unemployment rate increased in June — from 4.7 percent to 4.9 percent — despite total nonfarm employment increasing by 287,000 over the month, as these gains were offset by the number of unemployed persons increasing by 347,000 to 7.8 million, according to a release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Though the increase in unemployment rate is the largest seen since December 2012, it should not be a cause for concern for commercial real estate investors.

“I don’t think it is going to have a material impact,” says Larry Souza, an economist with Pillar 6 Advisors. “More people are looking for jobs, which has caused the unemployment rate to go up, and that’s not a bad thing. It is actually a good thing.”

Sectors that did see an employment increase in June include leisure and hospitality, healthcare and social assistance,

Forgot your username or password?