Shruthi Venkatesh

April non-farm payrolls and unemployment numbers offer encouragement that the labor market is regaining momentum after a weak show in March. The job market added 223,000 jobs in April, matching its 2014 trend and outpacing average growth in 2015 Q1. Further, the unemployment rate fell to 5.4%, its lowest level post-recession. 

Construction spending fell nearly 60 bps to a seasonally adjusted $966.6 billion in March, its lowest level in six months. Following a flat reading in February, growth in construction spending slowed to a 2% annual rate in March.

The fundamentals for the apartment sector continue to display strong performance. Demand for rental housing surged in the first quarter of 2015, with the total number of rental units increasing by 1.9 million units. This is the second consecutive quarter of healthy increases in rental occupancy, according to Census Bureau data beginning in 1965, surpassing a rise in rental occupancy of 1.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2007 at the onset of the housing crisis.