The Employment Situation Report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported higher than expected overall employment growth in May. However, employment levels in 2 of the 4 of the multifamily-related job categories we track fell from the preliminary levels reported last month.
Employment growth recovers from last month’s slowdown
The BLS reported that total seasonally adjusted non-farm employment increased by 272,000 jobs in May to 158,543,000 jobs, based on their survey of business establishments. This is up from a revised gain of 165,000 jobs reported for last month and from an average monthly gain of 230,000 jobs over the last 12 months.
The BLS household survey reported that the US unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 4.0 percent. The household survey found that the number of employed persons fell by 408,000 from that reported for last month to 161,083,000. The number of unemployed persons rose by 157,000 to 6,649,000.
The household survey found that the number of people in the civilian labor force fell by 250,000 in May while the adult civilian population rose by 182,000. The labor force participation rate fell 0.14 percentage points to 62.53 percent. It had been at 63.33 percent before the pandemic. Recovering that 0.80 percent decline in the labor force participation rate would bring 2.15 million more people into the workforce.
Tracking multifamily employment
The BLS reported more detailed employment information on four job categories of interest to the multifamily industry. These are employment as residential construction workers, as specialty trades within residential construction, as residential property managers and as lessors of residential buildings. As usual, some of the data is reported with a month delay, so the latest figures for the latter two categories are for the month of April.
Residential construction employment higher overall
The first chart shows the history of the levels of employment since 2015 in the two construction jobs categories we track.
Employment in residential building construction in May, usually with general contractors, was reported to be up by 3,500 jobs. However, the prior month’s employment level was revised lower by 3,800 jobs so reported employment in this category is 300 jobs lower than the preliminary value reported last month. Employment in this category is now 949,700 jobs, up 2.9 percent year-over-year.
Employment in residential building trades, i.e. plumbers, electricians, etc., in May was reported to be unchanged from last month’s level. However, the April jobs figure was revised higher by 1,300 jobs. Employment in this category is now 2,408,700 jobs, up 1.9 percent year-over-year.
Total May employment in these two categories of residential construction jobs combined is up 0.1 percent from the revised level of the month before and up 2.2 percent year-over-year. It is up 0.03 percent from the preliminary level for April contained in last month’s report.
Residential property manager jobs grow
The next chart shows the history of the levels of employment since 2015 in the two property management jobs categories we track.
Employment for residential property managers in April was reported to be up by 1,400 jobs from its revised (+600 jobs) level for March to 548,400 jobs. Employment for residential property managers is up 4.6 percent year-over-year.
Employment for lessors of residential buildings in April was reported to fall by 200 jobs from its revised (-600 jobs) level for March to 375,500 jobs. Employment in this category is up 1.0 percent year-over-year.
Total employment in these two categories of apartment operations jobs combined was reported to be up 0.1 percent from the revised level for last month and up 3.1 percent year-over-year. It is up 0.1 percent from the preliminary level for March contained in last month’s report.
Employment growth runs below trend
The final chart, below, presents the employment data in a different format. It normalizes the employment levels in all four jobs categories to a reading of 100 for January 2015. It also provides trend lines for the growth in each of the categories of employment based on the period from January 2015 through February 2020.
Residential building construction employment is now 2.7 percent below trend. Residential trades employment is now 3.0 percent below trend. Residential property managers employment is 1.6 percent above trend and lessors of residential buildings employment is now 3.4 percent below trend.
The numbers given in the Employment Situation report are seasonally adjusted and are subject to revision. It is common for small adjustments to be made in subsequent reports, particularly to the data for the most recent month. The current Employment Situation report can be found here.
