Strong City Economy Boosting Real Estate?

Yesterday the big local news was that the city added almost double as many jobs last years as had been estimated: 85,300 as opposed to 44,800, and 6,000 of those jobs were on Wall Street, Crain’s reports. The growth appears to be continuing this year: “The strength continued into January, with the city adding 31,600 private-sector jobs, according to an analysis of department data by real estate services firm Eastern Consolidated. Professional and business services led the way, adding 9,300 jobs. It’s the largest one-month gain since 1990, except for last July, when the Verizon strike ended. ‘The numbers were so beyond my expectations that it requires more research to interpret them,’ said Barbara Byrne Denham, chief economist at Eastern Consolidated.” Still, as City Room notes, it’s possible to spin the data in a less rosy light: “New York City’s unemployment rate rose again in January, to a 16-month high, 9.3 percent, from 9.1 percent in December. That was a full percentage point above the national rate, which fell from 8.5 percent in December.” The question now for real estate watchers is whether the strength of the local economy is going to translate into an even stronger real estate market as we head into the biggest selling season of the year.
Stunning Gains for City Economy [Crain’s]
2 Spins Offered by Latest City Jobs Data [City Room]
Photo by ChrisM70