Key Highlights
- 41 states had job gains in September
- Unemployment rates decreased in 39 states compared to August 2020
- Employment has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels of February 2020 in all 50 states
It goes without saying that employment and income levels closely affect demand for and supply of residential and commercial real estate. Assuming that given, as September 2020 was a good month for rising employment and income levels, September 2020 was a good month for both demand and sales of residential real estate.
From May to September 11.4M jobs were created with 10.7M to go to fully recover from pre-pandemic levels. Sectors needing job replenishment the most included the leisure, hospitality and retail trade sectors, the sectors of health care, education and social assistance and professional and business services.
Seasonally adjusted non-farm employment increased in 41 states in September compared to employment levels in August. Nationally, the top ten job gaining states included New Jersey (=1.6%), New York (+1.3%), Wyoming (+1.3%), Alaska (+1.2%), South Carolina (+1.2%), South Dakota (+1.2%), North Carolina (+1.1%), Massachusetts (+1.1%), Connecticut (+1.1%) and Vermont (+1.0%).
Here’s a look at the job types that experienced growth:
- 47 states registered job gains in leisure and hospitality, one of the hardest hit job areas by the COVID pandemic
- Nevada, North Dakota and Louisiana were the three states that had no job gains in leisure and hospitality.
- States with the strongest job gains within this sector included Vermont (+12.1%), New Hampshire (+8.4%) and New York (+6.8%).
- 33 states and the District of Columbia registered job gains in retail trade in September, also hard hit by the pandemic.
- The states experiencing the strongest growth in retail trade included Alaska (+3.6%), Vermont (+2.5%), Montana (+2.1%), California (+1.8%), Maryland (+1.8%), New Jersey (+1.7%) and Massachusetts (+1.7%).
- 29 states increased jobs in real estate, rental and leasing despite the housing market being on a tear with sales hitting 6.54M in September
- States experiencing the strongest gains in this sector were Alaska (+6%), Louisiana (+5.4%), Wisconsin (+5.4%), Montana (+5.2%) and Minnesota (+4.7%).
- 32 states experienced job gains in construction during September
- States with the strongest gains in the construction sector included Vermont (+4.7%), Louisiana (+4.1%) and New Hampshire (+3.8%).
- 37 states saw job gains in professional and business services, a sector critical to demand for office space.
- Nevada (+2.9%) and New Mexico (+2.6%) had the largest job gains in professional and business services.
States with the largest employment shortfalls included Hawaii (-18.4%), New York (-11.2%), Vermont (-9.6%), Massachusetts (-9.5%) and Alaska (-9.2%). States with the highest double-digit unemployment rates in September included Hawaii (15%), Nevada (-12.6%), California (-11%) and Illinois (-10.2%). States with the lowest employment shortfalls include Idaho, Utah, Mississippi, Nebraska and South Dakota. States with the lowest unemployment rates in September included Nebraska (3.5%), South Dakota (4.1%), North Dakota (4.4%), Iowa (4.7%) and Missouri (4.9%).
Thanks to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Association of REALTORS®.
Also read: Podcast: How to Transition from Part Time Dabbler to Full Time Rock Star, Staggering: 30M+ Unemployed in 6 Weeks, Possible Consequences for Real Estate ID Recession Hits – Part I
