CALABASAS, CA—Six weeks after Marcus & Millichap predicted that 2014's economic momentum would carry over into the new year, that assessment has been confirmed. In the latest edition of MMI's Research Blog, the GlobeSt.com Thought Leader's Hessam Nadji notes that “momentum has been broad as corporate caution has finally relaxed and companies have started to funnel profits back to work in the form of investments in equipment and additions to staff.”

SVP and chief strategy officer for MMI, Nadji observes that the number of domestic job openings recently surpassed its pre-recession peak and reached a 14-year high as employers accelerated hiring, leading to “a robust month of job creation in January.” In fact, he notes that hiring over the past three months has been “remarkably steady,” with the three-month total surpassing one million jobs for the first time since 1997.

Nadji predicts that inexpensive gas prices, coupled with “particularly low interest rates,” will sustain economic growth this year. That being said, he points out that while falling prices at the pump represent “a boon to the broader economy,” they've been taking their toll on employment in the natural resources and mining sectors.

“Should the price of oil remain low, companies will likely decommission more rotary rigs following last month's shutdown of 200 facilities,” Nadji writes. At the same time, US oil production remains elevated compared with years past, a trend Nadji sees continuing in the near term “as producers work their most cost-effective wells.”

Naturally, the general positive momentum in the economy benefited commercial real estate in January. In retail, for example, retail job openings have reached an all-time high, signaling additional store openings in the coming months as retailers step up the pace of expansion,” writes Nadji. The current year will see retailers absorb nearly 88 million square feet of space to drop nationwide vacancy 60 basis points to 6%, “a level on par with the peak of the last cycle.”

In the office sector, meanwhile, Nadji points to the expansion of payrolls in the professional and business services sector as well as in financial services. In time that will lead to larger office layouts, “lifting absorption trends”—which will be helped further by what remains a “tight construction pipeline, dominated by build-to-suits and generally only occurring in the healthiest markets.”