What Those Job Numbers Mean For CRE

On February 3, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest monthly employment data, showing that January job creation came in double the level forecast by economists and Wall Street. A total of 517,000 positions were added, and the unemployment rate fell to a record low of 3.4%. (The US has only exceeded 517,000 job additions once, in May 2010.) And while “some economists are trying to candy-coat the terrible results, saying the job additions were inflated by wonky seasonal adjustments…at the end of the day the number is the number,” says Marcus & Millichap’s John Chang in a new research video.

Some fear that adding so many jobs so quickly could trigger the Fed to push interest rates up more aggressively after announcing a softer touch at their February 1 meeting. But Chang is taking the long view.