The Employment Situation Report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that overall employment growth rose in August from the gain initially reported for last month. However, last month’s employment level was revised lower in this month’s report, so the gain is relative to a lower base than in last month’s report. The employment levels in 3 of the 4 of the multifamily-related job categories we track rose from the preliminary levels reported last month.
Revisions boost reported employment growth
The BLS reported that total seasonally adjusted non-farm employment increased by 142,000 jobs in August, based on their survey of business establishments. Last month’s gain of 114,000 jobs was revised down to 89,000 jobs while June’s gain, initially reported as 206,000 jobs, was revised to only 118,000 jobs in this month’s report.
Given the revisions, the actual reported employment level from the business survey is up by only 56,000 jobs from the preliminary level reported last month at 158,779,000 jobs. This is lower than last month’s report-over-report job growth of 86,000 jobs.
The employment levels for recent months based on the surveys of business establishments as given in the last three employment reports are illustrated in the first chart, below. Generally, each report includes data for the current month and revised data for the previous two months. The chart shows that those revisions in recent reports have reduced the reported levels of employment.
The BLS household survey reported that the U.S. unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 4.2 percent. The household survey found that the number of employed persons rose by 168,000 from that reported for last month to 161,434,000. The number of unemployed persons fell by 48,000 to 7,115,000.
The household survey also found that the number of people in the civilian labor force rose by 120,000 in August while the adult civilian population rose by 212,000. The labor force participation rate was effectively unchanged, falling 0.01 percentage points to 62.69 percent. It had been at 63.33 percent before the pandemic. Recovering that 0.62 percent decline in the labor force participation rate would bring 1.67 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 July.
Residential construction employment lower overall
The next chart shows the history of the levels of employment since 2015 in the two construction jobs categories we track.
Job growth in residential building construction in August, usually with general contractors, was reported to be 4,800 jobs. However, the prior month’s employment level was revised lower by 4,100 jobs so reported employment in this category is only 700 jobs higher than the preliminary level reported last month. Employment in this category is now 950,900 jobs, up 3.0 percent year-over-year.
Job growth in residential building trades, i.e. plumbers, electricians, etc., in August was reported to be 800 jobs. However, the July jobs figure was revised lower by 3,900 jobs so employment in this category is 3,100 jobs lower than the level reported last month. Employment in residential building trades is now 2,416,500 jobs, up 1.5 percent year-over-year.
Total August employment in these two categories of residential construction jobs combined is up 0.17 percent from the revised level of the month before and up 1.9 percent year-over-year. It is down 0.1 percent from the preliminary level for July contained in last month’s report.
Property management jobs increase
The next chart shows the history of the levels of employment since 2015 in the two property management jobs categories we track.
Job growth for residential property managers in July was reported to be 2,400 jobs. In addition, the reported employment level for June was revised higher by 300 jobs, so employment is this category is now 556,100 jobs. Employment for residential property managers is up 5.4 percent year-over-year.
Employment for lessors of residential buildings in July was reported to be unchanged from the level for June at 376,500 jobs. Job growth in this category is +1.8 percent year-over-year.
Total employment in these two categories of apartment operations jobs combined was reported to be up 0.26 percent from the revised level for last month and up 3.9 percent year-over-year. It is up 0.29 percent from the preliminary level for June contained in last month’s report.
Property manager employment beats trend
The final chart, below, presents the employment data in a different format. It normalizes the employment levels in each of the 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 3.4 percent below trend. Residential trades employment is now 3.4 percent below trend. Residential property managers employment is 2.4 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.
