Employment Picture Better than Expected

If you've been reading my blog you know I expect the real estate markets to start recovering once the job market starts consistently growing. Well the national news today was a bit better than expected with reports of 67,000 private sector jobs being added in August. The June and July employment numbers were also revised upwards, another reason for a bit of optimism. While a positive surprise is nice (analysts expected only 41,000 new jobs in August), the economy still needs to more than double this monthly job growth figure if we want to really reverse the damage of the 'Great Recession.'

Another reason not to break out the champagne just yet: the employment scene locally here in Philadelphia is still shaky. The unemployment rate for Philadelphia county rose last month from 11.7% to 11.9%, more than two full percentage points above the national average. The five-county Philadelphia region has a little bit brighter outlook, with a 9.3% unemployment rate and unemployment as low a 7.2% out in Chester County. Another silver lining is that although employment has fluctuated month-to-month in Philly, the city has still added 3,000 jobs since February, so the slightly longer term view isn't awful.