In a note to clients, Capital Economics senior economist Michael Pearce said they are growing more convinced that the fall in participation since the beginning of the pandemic will prove permanent.
As for the residential construction sector, employment jumped 44,000 in October, following a 30,000 gain in September. Fannie Mae chief economist Doug Duncan said the increase was a welcome sign for a sector dealing with a backlog of orders. “We believe this may help alleviate the supply constraints present in this sector,” he said.
“More hammers mean more homes, so October’s gain signals an increase in new-home construction, and, in turn, more housing supply may be on the horizon, which would benefit home buyers and the housing market,” Kushi said.
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“Residential building is up 5.4% compared with its pre-COVID pace, while the non-residential building remains 4.4% below its pre-pandemic level. The growth in the average hourly earnings of production and non-supervisory employees in construction remains elevated at 5.2%, and we know the best attraction and retention policy is to pay more.”