June Employment Numbers Show Commercial Real Estate Heading in Right Direction

Nareit Senior Economist Calvin Schnure said the June employment numbers released last week were a “welcome positive surprise” that shows commercial real estate is heading in the right direction.

Speaking July 6 on the REIT Report podcast, Schnure said the 4.8 million jobs reported for June exceeded expectations by a wide margin. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell more than anticipated, to 11.1%. While that is still a very high number, Schnure said, “this is a good down payment on the recovery that we’re going to need.”

Hiring last month was concentrated in the sectors that had the biggest job losses when the economy shut down, such as retail and hospitality, Schnure pointed out. Despite the jump in employment, many of these establishments will not be doing their pre-crisis level of business right away, he noted.