WASHINGTON, DC-Labor Department figures released Fridaydisappointed many--in all sectors of the economy--with thelackluster growth in private sector hiring. In May, 431,000jobs were added--the vast majority of which, though, weretemporary Census workers. The private-sector only added 41,000 jobs to the economy.

For the real estate industry--a lagging indicator--these numbersare not going to have an immediate impact. Indeed, thefundamentals in the real estate space are not likely toimprove at least until the end of the year, according toseveral industry analysis reports.

Still, though, the latest figures provide an opportunity to takea snapshot of where commercial real estate markets stand rightnow, compared to a year ago. From that perspective, thesituation is slightly less grim. At bottom it shows thatprogress is being made. “Anecdotally, it is gettingbetter for landlords," Hirschfeld Properties CEO Elie Hirschfeldtells GlobeSt.com, speaking of the New York City market. "We seethat in both office and residential properties. We aslandlords needed to really stretch to bring in tenants. Onecritical sign that the real estate market is improving is thefact that the tenant is back to paying the brokerage feefor residential” as opposed to the landlord, which had beenthe case for the last year or so.