New jobless claims totaled 790,021 in the week ending September 12, a decrease of nearly 9% from the previous week. Compared to late March, the number of weekly claims has come down substantially stabilizing below 1 million for the seventh straight week.
The housing market continues to recover strongly, fueled by low mortgage rates.
Mortgage rates have stabilized near record lows but rates could fall even further this year. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage inched up to an average of 2.87% this week from 2.86% the prior week.
Understanding the profile of landlords is important because any policy pertaining to renters also impacts landlords and their ability to provide rental housing supply.
At the national level, housing affordability showed signs of improvement in July 2020 compared to a year ago but dipped compared to June.
Unadjusted new jobless claims totaled 857,148 in the week ending September 5, an increase of 20,140 (2.4%) from the previous week.
With these ultra-low mortgage rates, the real estate market is recovering faster than expected from the pandemic.
From the beginning of the lockdown in mid-March to the latest week, there have been nearly 58 million Americans who have been laid off.
The unemployment benefits that about 29 million people receive have provided a boost to household incomes, enabling them to stay afloat and pay their debt and bills.
The unemployment rate fell to 8.4% as 1.4 million more jobs were added in August. Total job additions from the low point during the lockdown are now over 10 million, but another 10 million jobs are needed to get us back to pre-pandemic conditions.
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