Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 3.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million in April from a downwardly revised 4.47 million in March, and are 10.0 percent higher than the 4.20 million-unit level in April 2011.

Supply and Demand

Total housing inventory at the end of April rose 9.5 percent to 2.54 million existing homes available for sale, a seasonal increase which represents a 6.6-month supply at the current sales pace, up from a 6.2-month supply in March. Listed inventory is 20.6 percent below a year ago when there was a 9.1-month supply; the record for unsold inventory was 4.04 million in July 2007.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types jumped 10.1 percent to $177,400 in April from a year ago; the March price showed an upwardly revised 3.1 percent annual improvement.

Distressed homes — foreclosures and short sales sold at deep discounts – accounted for 28 percent of April sales (17 percent were foreclosures and 11 percent were short sales), down from 29 percent in March and 37 percent in April 2011. Foreclosures sold for an average discount of 21 percent below market value in April, while short sales were discounted 14 percent.

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage declined to 3.91 percent in April from 3.95 percent in March; the rate was 4.84 percent in April 2011. Last week the 30-year fixed rate dropped to a record weekly low of 3.79 percent; recordkeeping began in 1971.

First-time buyers rose to 35 percent of purchasers in April from 33 percent in March; they were 36 percent in April 2011.

All-cash sales fell to 29 percent of transactions in April from 32 percent in March; they were 31 percent in April 2011. Investors, who account for the bulk of cash sales, purchased 20 percent of homes in April, compared with 21 percent in March and 20 percent in April 2011.

Single-family home sales rose 3.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million in April from 3.97 million in March, and are 9.9 percent higher than the 3.72 million-unit pace a year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $178,000 in April, up 10.4 percent from April 2011.

Existing condominium and co-op sales increased 6.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 530,000 in April from 500,000 in March, and are 10.4 percent above the 480,000-unit level in April 2011. The median existing condo price was $172,900 inApril, which is 8.1 percent above a year ago.

Performance by Region

Existing-home sales in the Northeast rose 5.1 percent to an annual level of 620,000 in April and are 19.2 percent higher than a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $256,600, up 8.8 percent from April 2011.

Existing-home sales in the Midwest increased 1.0 percent in April to a pace of 1.03 million and are 14.4 percent above April 2011. The median price in the Midwest was $141,400, up 7.4 percent from a year ago.

In the South, existing-home sales rose 3.5 percent to an annual level of 1.79 million in April andare 6.5 percent higher than a year ago. The median price in the South was $153,400, up 8.0 percent from April 2011.

Existing-home sales in the West increased 4.4 percent to an annual pace of 1.18 million in April and are 7.3 percent above April 2011. The median price in the West was $221,700, a surge of 15.9 percent from a year ago.

The national unemployment rate was 8.1 percent in April, little changed from the prior month but down from 9.0 percent a year earlier. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 115,000 over the month and by 1,816,000 over the year.

Industry Distributions

The number of mass layoff events in April was 1,421, not seasonally adjusted, resulting in 146,358 initial claims for unemployment insurance. Over the year, the number of average weekly mass layoff events increased by 5 to 355, while associated average weekly initial claims decreased by 1,394 to 36,590. Ten of the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy reported over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, with the largest decrease occurring in manufacturing. In April, the six-digit industry with the largest number of private nonfarm initial claims was school and employee bus transportation.

In April, the manufacturing sector accounted for 19 percent of mass layoff events and 23 percent of associated initial claims in the private economy. Within manufacturing, the numbers of mass layoff claimants were highest in food and in transportation equipment. Thirteen of the 21 manufacturing subsectors experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, with the largest decrease occurring in transportation equipment.

Geographic Distribution

Among the census regions, the Northeast registered the largest number of initial claims in April. Two of the 4 regions experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, with the largest decrease occurring in the Midwest.

Among the states, California recorded the highest number of mass layoff initial claims in April, followed by New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, led by Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Stern And Company
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The protocol here is simple and ironclad: If you issue a news release, be prepared to discuss it with a reporter, either on or off the record or with a “no comment.” And, there is no excuse for a public relations function not to return a call from the media, none. If that’s occurring in your organization or with your outside firm, to loosely quote Lyndon Johnson, the “woodshed’s” in order.

Reporters understand that there are some matters on which a company cannot comment, but they want at least a “no comment” response. Moreover, if a news release is issued on which a comment can be made, they want that as well.

Consider this: If you’ve issued “good news” and it prompts a media call you’re more than likely to get more space or “ink,” or airtime on that piece. If it’s “bad news” you’ve issued, even more so do you want to take a reporter’s call: It gives you the opportunity to mitigate that negative news and to communicate your message to your key publics.

That’s what Media Relations is all about.

And, of course, Stern And Company would be happy to discuss this with you further. Drop us an email at steve @ sdsternpr.com.

In April 2012, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 32 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in 18 states. The largest over-the-month increase in employment occurred in Indiana (+17,100), followed by Texas (+13,200) and Georgia (+7,800). The largest over-the-month decrease in employment occurred in Maryland (-6,000), followed by Wisconsin (-5,900) and New Hampshire (-4,800). Hawaii experienced the largest over-the-month percentage increase in employment (+0.8 per-cent), followed by North Dakota (+0.7 percent) and Indiana (+0.6 percent). New Hampshire experienced the largest over-the-month percentage decline in employment (-0.8 percent), followed by Alaska (-0.7 percent) and Vermont (-0.5 percent). Over the year, nonfarm employment increased in 43 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in 7 states. The largest over-the-year percentage increase occurred in North Dakota (+7.2 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment occurred in Rhode Island (-0.9 percent).

Regional Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted)

The West continued to record the highest regional unemployment rate in April, 9.5 percent, while the Midwest again reported the lowest rate, 7.2 percent. Over the month, three regions experienced statistically significant unemployment rate changes: the Midwest (-0.2 percentage point) and South and West (-0.1 point each). The significant over-the-year changes occurred in the same three regions: the Midwest and South (-1.2 percentage points each) and West (-1.0 point).

Among the nine geographic divisions, the Pacific continued to report the highest jobless rate, 10.1 percent in April. The West North Central again registered the lowest rate, 5.8 percent. Two divisions experienced statistically significant unemployment rate changes over the month: the South Atlantic and West South Central (-0.2 percentage point each). Eight divisions had measurable unemployment rate changes from a year earlier, all of which were decreases. The largest of these occurred in the East South Central (-1.7 percentage points).

State Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted)

Nevada continued to record the highest unemployment rate among the states, 11.7 percent in April. Rhode Island and California posted the next highest rates, 11.2 and 10.9 percent, respectively. North Dakota again registered the lowest jobless rate, 3.0 percent, followed by Nebraska, 3.9 percent, and South Dakota, 4.3 percent. In total, 24 states reported jobless rates significantly lower than the U.S. figure of 8.1 percent, 6 states and the District of Columbia had measurably higher rates, and 20 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

Arizona and Oklahoma experienced the largest over-the-month unemployment rate declines in April (-0.4 percentage point each). Seven other states also had statis-tically significant rate decreases: Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, and North Carolina (-0.3 percentage point each) and Idaho, Massachusetts, and Minnesota (-0.2 point each). The District of Columbia also posted a significant rate decrease (-0.3 per-centage point). The remaining 41 states recorded jobless rates that were not measurably different from those of a month earlier, though some had changes that were at least as large numerically as the significant changes.

Michigan registered the largest jobless rate decrease from April 2011 (-2.2 per-centage points). Twenty-three additional states reported smaller but also statistically significant declines over the year. The remaining 26 states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment rates that were not appreciably different from those of a year earlier.

Nonfarm Payroll Employment (Seasonally Adjusted)

In April 2012, nine states recorded statistically significant over-the-month changes in employment, seven of which were increases. The largest statistically significant job gains occurred in Indiana (+17,100), Iowa (+5,800), and Arkansas (+5,500). Significant job losses occurred in New Hampshire (-4,800) and Alaska (-2,300). (See tables C and 5.)

Over the year, 24 states and the District of Columbia experienced statistically significant changes in employment, all of which were increases. The largest increase occurred in Texas (+225,800), followed by California (+175,600) and New York (+131,000).

New job growth in Nevada is being driven by the private sector, which has added employment in every month since January 2011. So far this year, private sector job levels are trending about 13,800 higher than a year ago. That is on top of approximately 12,000 new jobs added in 2011.  Those improvements are being partially offset by declines in the public sector, which has lost 6,400 jobs since January 2011.

The unemployment rate in each of the state’s three metropolitan areas fell below 12 percent and reached levels not seen in nearly three years. In the Las Vegas region, the unemployment rate fell to 11.6 percent in April, down from 12.0 percent in March. The unemployment rate in the Reno-Sparks area fell by six-tenths to 11.4 percent in April. In the Capital region, the unemployment rate fell six-tenths to 11.8 percent in April, down from 12.4 percent in March. In the Elko micropolitan area (Elko and Eureka counties), the unemployment rate declined three-tenths to 6.3 percent. The rate is 5.2 percentage points lower than the statewide average and 1.4 points lower than the national average, 7.7 percent.

“Much has been made of late about the underlying reasons behind the downtrend in the unemployment rate,” said Bill Anderson, chief economist for the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR). “While job growth has been positive of late, contributing to the drop in the jobless rate, there are some structural forces at play, as well. Specifically, the labor force participation rate (LFPR) has been trending down both at the state and national level for many years.”

At the beginning of the recession, about 66 percent of the U.S. population was in the labor force (either employed or unemployed). As of April, the LFPR was just 63.6 percent, suggesting individuals (presumably without a job) are dropping out of the labor force and are not counted amongst the unemployed. In Nevada, the labor force participation rate has been trending down since the early 1980′s, after reaching a peak of 73.7 percent. The current LFPR stands at 64.9 percent, down from 67.8 since the start of the recession. While recent declines in the LFPR can be attributed to a poor job market, longer term trends point to changes in the structure of the economy and demographics of the population.

Seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment in Nevada fell by 600 from March to April. Private-sector employment grew by 200 in April, but government employment fell by 800. Over the last year, private sector employment increased by 10,500 jobs. However, these gains were offset by a decrease in government employment of 5,100. April’s lackluster jobs report comes on the heels of a strong report in March, which was revised up by 2,700 jobs, pushing that month’s gain from 5,000 to 7,700.

Results were mixed for Nevada’s major industry sectors. Mining employment rose by 100 in April and set a new series peak dating back to 1990. The trade, transportation and utilities sector added 2,900 jobs, with a strong showing from retail trade (+1,600), transportation/warehousing/utilities (+1,100); and an increase of 200 jobs in wholesale trade. Education and health services added 1,200 jobs in April — most of it coming from the health care and social assistance sub-sector which added 1,100 jobs. Even with the increase, the health care and social assistance employment level is still below the peak set in October 2011.

“On the down side, a number of industries shed employment in April. Construction (-900) continued to trend down, setting a new post-boom low,” Anderson said. “Employment in professional and business services was down by 2,000 in April. Within the sector, administrative, waste management and remediation services lost 2,100 jobs. Although employment in accommodation and food services fell by 1,400 in April, it has gained 7,800 jobs over the last year (a gain of 2.7 percent). Government employers cut employment by 800 jobs over-the-month. Federal government employment was unchanged, and state government employment decreased slightly (-200). Most of the losses occurred in local government (-600). Local government employment has steadily decreased, losing 4,200 jobs in the last year and is currently at levels not seen since October 2005.

Employment levels in two of Nevada’s metropolitan areas increased over-the-month, with Las Vegas adding 400 jobs and Reno adding 500. Carson City lost 200 jobs and employment is down 3.5 percent from a year ago. Reno employment is also down from a year ago, with 900 fewer jobs than in April of 2011 (a decrease of 0.5 percent). Las Vegas has added 4,600 jobs since April of 2011 for a year-over-year growth rate of 0.6 percent.

Along with a growing labor market, measures of wages paid to employees continue to trend positive. The 12 month average of hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by six cents, to $19.56. Average hourly earnings have increased by $0.70 since April 2011, an increase of 3.6 percent. Additionally, contribution reports from employers enrolled in Nevada’s unemployment insurance program show moderate growth in covered wages. After declining in both 2009 and 2010, average weekly wages have rebounded of late. Wages in 2011 were up 1.3 percent from a year ago ($829 vs. $818), despite some weakness in the fourth quarter.

Total personal income in Nevada has increased on an over-the-year basis for seven straight quarters, despite a fall in transfer payments. Transfer payments as a share of personal income rose markedly during the recession, driven by increases in unemployment insurance benefits, and peaked at 16.6 percent in the final quarter of 2010. Since then, the level of transfer payments as a part of personal income has trended down and currently stands at 15.6 percent of the total.

“Foreclosure information collector RealtyTrac of Irvine, Calif., said that after just one month in the No. 2 spot trailing Arizona in March, Nevada moved to the top of the list in April in part because of a 15 percent increase in foreclosure starts compared to March.

“Before moving to No. 2 in March, Nevada had led the nation in foreclosures for 62 consecutive months with its overheated housing market hit especially hard by the recession.

“In April, Arizona moved to No. 4 on the national list while California — a big feeder market for Nevada’s casino industry — advanced to No. 2 with one in every 351 homes there receiving a foreclosure filing.” Click here for the full story in the Las Vegas Sun.

Industry Distribution of Extended Layoffs

Over the year ending in the first quarter of 2012, the number of private nonfarm extended mass layoff events declined in 16 of the 18 major industry sectors. The manufacturing and the construction sectors experienced the largest declines in the numbers of worker separations over the year. Fourteen of the 21 manufacturing subsectors experienced over-the-year decreases in the number of layoff events.

Events and separations in the manufacturing sector declined to their lowest levels in program history (210 and 28,393, respectively). Thirty-six percent of manufacturing employers with an extended mass layoff event in the first quarter of 2012 anticipated recalling at least some of the displaced workers. The construction sector had 225 extended mass layoff events and 26,795 separations, primarily due to contract completion. This sector accounted for 21 percent of the layoff events and 15 percent of the related separations during the first quarter of 2012.

Reasons for Extended Layoffs

Business demand factors, primarily contract completion, accounted for 39 percent of the events and 44 percent of related separations in the private nonfarm sector during the first quarter of 2012. Layoffs due to the completion of seasonal work accounted for 28 percent of extended mass layoff events and 24 percent of related separations during the quarter.

Movement of Work

In the first quarter of 2012, 29 extended mass layoffs involved movement of work and were associated with 3,726 worker separations, a program low for both figures. Sixty-two percent of the events related to movement of work were from manufacturing industries. Employers cited organizational changes as the economic reason for layoff in 52 percent of the events involving movement of work. Among workers affected by the movement of work, the largest proportions were in the West.

The 29 events with movement of work for the first quarter involved 41 identifiable relocations of work actions. Employers were able to provide information on the specific number of worker separations for 33 of these actions. Among these actions, most were domestic reassignments and involved work moving within the same company.

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Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 715,000. This is 7.0 percent below the revised March rate of 769,000, but is 23.7 percent above the revised April 2011 estimate of 578,000.

Single-family authorizations in April were at a rate of 475,000; this is 1.9 percent above the revised March figure of 466,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 217,000 in April.

Privately-owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 717,000. This is 2.6 percent above the revised March estimate of 699,000 and is 29.9 percent above the revised April 2011 rate of 552,000.

Privately-owned housing completions in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 651,000. This is 10.0 percent above the revised March estimate of 592,000 and is 20.1 percent above the revised April 2011 rate of 542,000.

Single-family housing completions in April were at a rate of 489,000; this is 11.4 percent above the revised March figure of 439,000. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 158,000.

Stern And Company
Public Relations
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info @ sdsternpr.com
702-240-9533

Foreign residents increased their holdings of long-term U.S. securities in March – net purchases were $22.3 billion. Net sales by private foreign investors were $4.0 billion, and net purchases by foreign official institutions were $26.3 billion.

At the same time, U.S. residents decreased their holdings of long-term foreign securities, with net sales of $13.9 billion.

Taking into account transactions in both foreign and U.S. securities, the net foreign purchases of long-term securities were $36.2 billion.After including adjustments, such as estimates of unrecorded principal payments to foreigners on U.S. asset-backed securities, the overall net foreign acquisition of long-term securities is estimated to have been $19.0 billion in March.

Foreign residents decreased their holdings of U.S. Treasury bills by $2.7 billion.Foreign resident holdings of all dollar-denominated short-term U.S. securities and other custody liabilities decreased by $9.4 billion.
Banks’ own net dollar-denominated liabilities to foreign residents decreased by $59.5 billion.

Manufacturers’ and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $1,580.2 billion, up 0.3 percent from February 2012 and up 6.6 percent from March 2011.

The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of March was 1.27. The March 2011 ratio was 1.26.

Stern And Company
Public Relations
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