Labor Market Powers Home Sales
Filed at 4:50 p.m. EST
By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fewer Americans are
claiming unemployment benefits than at any time
during the past 25 years, and that healthy labor
market is helping power near-record home sales.
A seasonally adjusted 289,000 Americans filed
applications for unemployment checks last week,
down 10,000 from the week before, the Labor
Department said Thursday.
It was the eighth consecutive week of jobless claims
below 300,000, the longest such stretch since 1973,
demonstrating strong demand for labor in the face of
the nearly 2-year-old world economic slump.
''After a flurry of layoff notices late last year,
companies appear to be managing expenses without
widespread layoffs,'' said economist Lynn Reaser of
Bank of America Private Bank in Jacksonville, Fla.
''Indeed, many companies are struggling to fill
various positions.''
Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors
said Americans purchased existing homes at a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.02 million in
February, down just 0.4 percent from a record 5.04
million pace in January and the third consecutive
month above the 5 million mark.
Although U.S. manufacturers have cut 337,000 jobs
since March 1998, laid-off workers apparently are
finding jobs in service industries, which are less
affected by international economic conditions.
The Conference Board, a private New York-based
research organization, said its index of help-wanted
advertising fell slightly in February from the month
before.
Still, ''there is no suggestion that demand for labor
will slacken,'' said Conference Board economist Ken
Goldstein. ''Tight labor market conditions remain
firmly in place.''
In a piece of good news for one beleaguered
manufacturing industry, the Commerce Department
said imports of foreign steel declined for a fourth
consecutive month in February, to 2 million metric
tons, below pre-1998 levels for the first time since
U.S. imports reached record highs.
Exports from Japan, one of the leading sources of
foreign steel, were cut in half. However, the two
other targets of illegal trade complaints from U.S.
steel producers, Russia and Brazil, posted slight
increases in shipments.
In addition to plentiful jobs, low mortgage rates and
high stock prices are supporting home sales. The
Dow Jones Industrial average last week came within
a whisker of closing above 10,000 for the first time.
It then lost 331 points over four sessions before
rebounding 170 points Thursday, closing at 9,836.
Interest on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged
less than 7 percent for the eighth consecutive month
in February. But they rose slightly in March,
averaging 6.98 percent this week following three
consecutive weeks above 7 percent, said Freddie
Mac, the mortgage company.
That, along with a deceleration in economic growth,
should dampen home sales somewhat later this year,
analysts said.
''We expect existing home sales to moderate,'' said
economist Robert Barr of Fannie Mae. ''But when
we say it's going to moderate, we mean it's going to
moderate from very strong to strong.''
Home resales last month were highest in the South,
up 4.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
2.05 million. Sales rose 2.8 percent in the Northeast
to a rate of 730,000. They fell 0.9 percent in the
West to 1.07 million and 7.8 percent in the Midwest
to 1.18 million.
Realtors' economist James F. Smith said inclement
weather temporarily depressed sales in parts of the
Midwest and West.
''There are no regions of the country that could be
described as weak,'' he said.
Nationally, the median price of an existing home --
meaning half sold for more and half for less -- was
$129,300 in February, up 3.9 percent from a year
ago. By region, the median price was $112,100 in
the South, up 1.4 percent; $152,300 in the
Northeast, up 4 percent; $174,800 in the West, up
7.2 percent, and $112,300 in the Midwest, up 5.9
percent. |
