Today's jobs reported includes an unexpected bonus for the commercial real estate market. Nope, not in construction; that industry shed 53,000 more jobs in December. Total now, 1.6 million construction workers out of work since the recession began, creating an effective unemployment rate of 22.7% for them.
But back to the good news. "In the critical office-using sectors, employment increased for the fourth consecutive month, rising 48,000 in December," according to Cushman and Wakefield. Financial employment rose by 4,000, which while minimal is the first bump up there since July of 2007.
Yes, I realize there's a big article in the New York Times today about how office vacancies in New York are ridiculous — "920 football fields of available office space in Manhattan" — and as I reported yesterday, delinquencies in commercial mortgage backed securities are WAY up, 502 percent from a year ago to 6.07 percent. But if more jobs in the office sector are being added today, that means there will be more demand for office space tomorrow.
Come on, you can't fault me for seeking the silver here.
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