The Employment Situation Report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stated that the economy experienced modest overall employment growth in February. The employment levels for 2 of the 4 multifamily-related job categories we track were reported to be higher than the preliminary levels reported last month.
Overall employment continues higher
The BLS reported that total seasonally adjusted non-farm employment increased by 151,000 jobs to 159,218,000 jobs in February, based on their survey of business establishments. This is only slightly lower than the monthly average employment gain of 166,000 jobs over the last 12 months. Last month’s employment level was revised marginally lower in this month’s report, falling by 2,000 jobs.
The BLS household survey reported that the US unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.1 percent. The household survey found that the number of employed people was 163,307,000. This is 588,000 employed people less than the figure reported last month. The number of unemployed people was 7,052,000, up 203,000 from last month’s reported figure.
The household survey also found that the number of people in the civilian labor force was 170,359,000, down by 385,000. The labor force participation rate rose to 62.44 percent. It had been at 63.33 percent before the pandemic. Recovering that 0.89 percent decline in the labor force participation rate would bring 2.43 million more people into the workforce.
The first chart shows the history of total employment based on the survey of business establishments since January 2015. The chart also shows the employment growth trend line based on employment growth between January 2015 and February 2020. It shows that employment is now 2.8 percent lower than it would have been if employment growth had continued to follow the pre-pandemic trend.
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 was reported with a one month delay, so the latest figures for the latter two categories are for the month of January.
Residential construction trades employment rises
The next chart shows the history of the levels of construction employment since 2015 in the two construction jobs categories we track.
Residential building construction employment in February, usually with general contractors, was reported to be up by 100 jobs. However, the prior month’s employment level was revised lower by 1,000 jobs so reported employment in this category is 900 jobs lower than the preliminary value reported last month. Employment in this category is now 955,100 jobs, up 2.7 percent year-over-year.
Employment in residential building trades, i.e. plumbers, electricians, etc., in February was reported to be up by 12,600 jobs from last month’s level. However, the January jobs figure was revised lower by 1,300 jobs so employment in this category is 11,300 jobs higher than the level reported last month. Employment in residential building trades is now 2,414,300 jobs, up 1.1 percent year-over-year.
Total February construction employment in these two categories of residential construction jobs combined is up 0.38 percent from the revised level of the month before and up 1.5 percent year-over-year.
Property management jobs higher
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 January was reported to be up by 1,800 jobs from its revised (-1,300 jobs) level for December to 552,300 jobs. Employment in this category is up 3.2 percent year-over-year.
Employment for lessors of residential buildings in January was reported to be down 1,300 jobs from the revised (-100 jobs) level for December at 369,000 jobs. Employment in this category is up 1.3 percent year-over-year.
Total employment in these two categories of apartment operations jobs combined was reported to be up 0.05 percent from the revised level for last month and up 2.0 percent year-over-year.
Only property managers jobs beat the 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 4.5 percent below trend. Residential trades employment is now 5.1 percent below trend. Residential property managers employment is 0.3 percent above trend and lessors of residential buildings employment is now 5.9 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.
