Governor Doug Ducey announced Arizona’s booming economy has added more than 400,000 new jobs since 2015 and the state’s unemployment rate has plummeted to 4.1 percent — the lowest since December 2007. Speaking at a groundbreaking event for Sunlit Chemical in Phoenix, Governor Ducey announced the state’s latest economic achievements, referring to the latest employment report by … [More]

In the week ending January 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 286,000, an increase of 55,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 230,000 to 231,000. The 4-week moving average was 231,000, an increase of 20,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was … [More]

The home shopping season appears to already be in full swing, as anxious buyers outnumbered dwindling new listings and drove inventory to record low levels in December. Limited supply is already pushing price growth up, as Zillow®'s latest market report1 shows monthly home value appreciation accelerated for the first time since July.   In addition to not wanting to wade into … [More]

CoreLogic, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, today released its latest Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI), which analyzes single-family rent price changes nationally and across major metropolitan areas. November 2021 data shows a national rent increase of 11.5% year over year, up 3.8% from November 2020. Annual rent … [More]

Fewer homes than ever were for sale in December, driving seasonally-adjusted home sales down 3.6%, according to a new report from Redfin, the technology-powered real estate brokerage. This marks the largest month-over-month sales decline since May 2020. Home prices surged 15% from a year earlier, the 17th consecutive month of double-digit increases. “Home sales are slumping, … [More]

In the week ending January 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 230,000, an increase of 23,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 207,000. The 4-week moving average was 210,750, an increase of 6,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 204,500. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1 percent for the week … [More]

An outside panel of economists and housing experts is evenly split on whether sales will rise or fall in 2022 as concerns over worsening affordability collide with expectations for rising inventory. When asked whether sales will rise or fall in 2022 compared to 2021, 41% of participants in the latest Zillow® Home Price Expectations Survey1 (ZHPES) said sales will … [More]

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.5 percent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.8 percent in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 7.0 percent before seasonal adjustment. Increases in the indexes for shelter and for used cars and … [More]

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index increased slightly in December to 98.9, up 0.5 points from November. Twenty-two percent of small business owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem encountered in operating their business. Price raising activities have reached levels not seen since the early 1980s when prices were rising at double-digit … [More]

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 199,000 in December, and the unemployment rate declined to 3.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment continued to trend up in leisure and hospitality, in professional and business services, in manufacturing, in construction, and in transportation and warehousing. This news release presents … [More]

Small business owners continue to struggle to increase their workforce, with 25% of owners saying labor quality was their top business problem in December, according to NFIB’s monthly jobs report. Thirteen percent of owners cited labor costs as their top business problem, up three points from November and a 48-year record high. “The labor shortage is holding back … [More]

Small and midsize U.S. business leaders remain confident in their companies and resourceful in their approaches to confronting macroeconomic challenges that have created growing pains over the last year, finds JPMorgan Chase’s 2022 Business Leaders Outlook Survey released today. As a new year begins, the majority of business leaders are feeling upbeat: 83% of midsize and 71% … [More]

December listing prices accelerated 10.0% year-over-year nationally and at an even faster pace in more than one-quarter of large metros, led by Las Vegas (+32.4%) and Austin (+28.8%) Colder weather may be settling in, but new housing data suggests the winter market is heating up, as looming mortgage rate hikes motivate more buyers to search for a home despite limited … [More]