Home prices continued to increase in the latest of many monthly surveys due in part to low inventories of homes for sale on the market. The January S&P Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index rose 19.1% from January 202, up monthly from December 2021 to January 2022 by 1.4%. The National Index increased 19.2% annually and up monthly by 1.1%. Phoenix, Tampa, and Miami reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities in January.
Consumer confidence rose modestly in March from February due in part to the strong labor market though higher prices are a concern. The Consumer Confidence Index increased to 107.2 this month from 105.7 in February. Within the report it showed that 57.2% of consumers said jobs were “plentiful,” up from 53.5%, a new historical high. Also, expectations further with consumers citing rising prices, especially at the gas pump.
Job openings across the nation remained at extremely lofty levels doubling the size of the unemployed. The Labor Department reports that there were 11.3 job openings in the U.S. on the last business day in February which about five million more than those that are unemployed. There were 4.35 million resignations during the month signaling workers are finding it easy to secure another position. The data is collected from the JOLTS report (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary).
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