Friday, December 21, 2012

Last 2012 Jobs Report: Lump of Coal

The final job performance report of the year brought New Mexicans a lump of coal.

The state not only lost jobs on a year-over-year basis—from November 2011 to November 2012—jobs disappeared between October 2012 and November 2012. This applies for both seasonally adjusted figures and the straight non-adjusted figures.

For the seasonally adjusted numbers, the state has 798,300 wage jobs in November. That was down 5,300, or 0.066% from November 2011, and down 1,300, or 0.0016% from October. The losses were small enough to be perhaps be considered a rounding error. Still, the direction was down.

The numbers were reported today by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics and the state's Department of Workforce Services.

The feds lumped transportation and utilities with trade, confusing things. The artificially added mega-sector was flat, both year-over-year and from October. The problem that November is supposed be the month retailers add staff for Christmas.

Not good.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Year-Over-Year Home Sales Increase Continues

Sales of single family detached homes in metro Albuquerque during November brought to 17 months the string of year-over-year increases, according to figures released by the Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors this afternoon.

November sales as compared to October reverted to the colder-weather seasonal sales decline pattern defied in October when sales were up from September. November sales—552 homes—dropped 121 units, or 18%, from October.

Homes sold during November were on the market an average of 66 days, the second shortest sales period of the year, tied with August and just behind the 65 day average sales period during July.

Median and average prices, which both dropped during October, split their behavior during November. November’s median price of $165,000, though up 3.1% from October 2011, dropped $1,700 or one percent from October 2012. The average price increased by $1,826, or one percent, during November to $204,653. The November average was up almost $10,000 from a year earlier. The sale of four homes at more than $1 million pushed the average price performance.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Jobs and Unemployment Claims Drop

Not only is the New Mexico economy losing jobs, it is producing fewer unemployed or at least fewer people seeking unemployment compensation. One would think those jobless people would head to the unemployment office.

However, over the six weeks through the week ending November 17, fewer new unemployment compensation claims were filed each week the during the same week a year earlier. The drop in new claims ranged from 626 the week ending with October 6 to 34 the week ending November 10.

During the same period of 2009, initial claims were running around 2,100 each week, a third higher than now. New claims were around 500 more than during the same week of 2008.