Health care employment continued to increase in October with an extra 29,000 jobs. Since the start of the recession, health care has added 597,000 positions. Temporary help services also added 34,000 jobs in October.

Average weekly earnings rose by only 0.9 percent to $619.63 due to a fall in the average working week.

October 2009 weekly earnings by industry sector

Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – jumped 9.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million units in September from a level of 5.09 million in August, and are 9.2 percent higher than in September 2008. Sales activity is at the highest level in over two years.

Lawrence Yun, National Association of Realtors (NAR) chief economist, said favourable conditions matched with a tax credit are boosting home sales. “Much of the momentum is from people responding to the first-time buyer tax credit, which is freeing many sellers to make a trade and buy another home,” he said. “We are hopeful the tax credit will be extended and possibly expanded to more buyers, at least through the middle of next year, because the rising sales momentum needs to continue for a few additional quarters until we reach a point of a self-sustaining recovery.”

Even with the improvement, Yun said the market is under performing. “Despite spectacular gains in the stock market, principally from the financial sector recovery, most of the 75 million home owning families have more wealth tied to their homes. Home values could soon turn consistently positive and help the broad base of middle-class families, but we are not there yet,” he said. “We’re getting early indications of price stabilisation, but we need a steady supply of qualified buyers to meaningfully bring inventories down and return us to a period of normal, steady price growth and to fully remove consumer fears, which would then revive the broader economy. Without a firm foundation for middle-class wealth recovery, the post-recession economic growth likely will be one of the weakest in U.S. history.”

Early information from a large annual consumer study to be released November 13, shows that first-time home buyers accounted for more than 45 percent of home sales during the past year. A separate practitioner survey shows that distressed homes accounted for 29 percent of transactions in September.

NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth, said affordability conditions remain historically high. “Potential first-time buyers can take heart in that affordability conditions this year are the highest on record dating back to 1970, but with the first-time buyer tax credit scheduled to expire at the end of next month, people could hold back from entering the market,” he said.

“Our read is that housing overshot on the downside because homes are selling for less than replacement construction costs in much of the country, and the home price-to-income ratio has fallen below the historical average,” McMillan said.

Northeast
Existing-home sales in the Northeast increased 4.4 percent to an annual level of 950,000 in September, and are 11.8 percent higher than September 2008. The median price in the Northeast was $234,700, down 7.0 percent from a year ago.

Midwest
Existing-home sales in the Midwest jumped 9.6 percent in September to a pace of 1.25 million and are 7.8 percent above a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $147,600, which is 1.0 percent below September 2008.

South
In the South, existing-home sales rose 9.0 percent to an annual level of 2.06 million in September and are 10.8 percent higher than September 2008. The median price in the South was $153,500, down 7.6 percent from a year ago.

West
Existing-home sales in the West surged 13.0 percent to an annual rate of 1.30 million in September and are 5.7 percent above a year ago. The median price in the West was $219,000, which is 15.0 percent below September 2008.

Working (by Employed Persons) in 2008

Employed persons worked an average of 7.6 hours on the days that they worked. They worked longer on weekdays than on weekend days, 7.9 versus 5.6 hours.

On the days that they worked, employed men worked about 52 minutes more than employed women. This difference partly reflects women’s greater likelihood of working part time. However, even among full-time workers, men worked longer than women, 8.3 versus 7.7 hours

Many more people worked on weekdays than on weekend days; that is, they spent some time doing tasks required for a job, regardless of whether it was part of their usual work schedule or arrangement. Eighty-three percent of employed persons worked on an average weekday compared with 34 percent on an average weekend day.

On the days that they worked, 21 percent of employed persons did some or all of their work at home, and 86 percent did some or all of their work at their workplace. Men and women were about equally likely to do some or all of their work at home.

Multiple jobholders were almost twice as likely to work on an average weekend day as were single jobholders, 59 versus 31 percent. Multiple jobholders also were much more likely to work at home than were single jobholders, 36 versus 19 percent

Self-employed workers were more likely than wage and salary workers to have done some work at home, 55 versus 17 percent.

On the days that they worked, 35 percent of employed people age 25 and over with a bachelor’s degree or higher did some work at home compared with only 9 percent of those with less than a high school diploma.

Household Activities in 2008

On an average day, 83 percent of women and 64 percent of men spent some time doing household activities, such as housework, cooking, lawn care, or financial and other household management.

On the days that they did household activities, women spent an average of 2.6 hours on such activities, while men spent 2.0 hours.

On an average day, 20 percent of men did housework–such as cleaning or doing laundry, compared with 50 percent of women. Thirty-eight percent of men did food preparation or cleanup compared with 65 percent of women.

Educational Activities in 2008

About 10 percent of the population engaged in educational activities, such as attending class or doing homework, on an average weekday. Those who attended class on a weekday spent an average of 5.3 hours doing so, and those who did homework and research on a weekday spent 2.7 hours in such activities.

Leisure Activities in 2008

On an average day, nearly everyone age 15 and over (96 percent) engaged in some sort of leisure activity, such as watching TV, socialising, or exercising. Of those who engaged in leisure activities, men spent more time in these activities (5.7 hours) than did women (5.1 hours).

Watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time, accounting for about half of leisure time, on average, for both men and women. Socialising, such as visiting with friends or attending or hosting social events, was the next most common leisure activity, accounting for about three-quarters of an hour per day for both sexes.

Men were more likely than women to participate in sports, exercise, or recreation on any given day, 21 versus 15 percent. On the days that they participated, men also spent more time in these activities than did women, 1.9 versus 1.3 hours.

On an average day, adults age 75 and over spent 7.6 hours engaged in leisure activities, more than any other age group; 25- to 44-year-olds spent just over 4 hours engaged in leisure and sports activities, less than other age groups.

Time spent reading for personal interest and playing games or using a computer for leisure varied greatly by age. Individuals age 75 and over averaged 1.2 hours of reading per weekend day and 17 minutes playing games or using a computer for leisure. Conversely, individuals ages 15 to 19 read for an average of 10 minutes per weekend day while spending 1.0 hour playing games or using a computer for leisure.

Employed adults living in households with no children under 18 engaged in leisure activities for 4.5 hours per day, nearly an hour more than employed adults living with a child under age 6.

Care of Household Children for the period 2004-08

Adults living in households with children under 6 spent an average of 2.0 hours per day providing primary childcare to household children. Adults living in households where the youngest child was between the ages of 6 and 17 spent less than half as much time providing primary childcare to household children, 47 minutes per day. Primary childcare is childcare that is done as a main activity, such as physical care of children and reading to or talking with children.

On an average weekday, among adults living in households with children under 6, women spent 1.2 hours providing physical care (such as bathing or feeding a child) to household children; by contrast, men spent 25 minutes providing physical care. On an average weekend day, women provided an hour of physical care to household children, while men provided half an hour.

Adults living in households with children under 13, with at least one child under 6, spent an average of 5.6 hours per day providing secondary childcare, that is, they had at least one child in their care while doing activities other than primary childcare. Secondary childcare provided by adults living in households with children under 6 was most commonly provided while doing leisure activities (2.2 hours) or household activities (1.3 hours).

Adults living in households with children under 6 spent more time providing primary childcare on an average weekday (2.1 hours) than on an average weekend day (1.7 hours). However, they spent less time providing secondary childcare on weekdays than on weekend days, 4.7 versus 7.6 hours.

Average weekly earnings in August rose by only 0.8 percent to $624.29 due to reductions in the average working week.

August 2009 weekly earnings by industry sector

The American median existing-home price for all housing types was $178,400 in July, which is 15.1 percent lower than July 2008.  Distressed properties continue to weigh down the median price because they typically sell for 15 to 20 percent less than traditional homes.

Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.24 million units in July and are 5.0 percent above the 4.99 million-unit pace in July 2008.  The last time sales rose for four consecutive months was in June 2004, and the last time sales were higher than a year earlier was November 2005.

Lawrence Yun, National Association of Realtors (NAR) chief economist, said he is encouraged.  “The housing market has decisively turned for the better.  A combination of first-time buyers taking advantage of the housing stimulus tax credit and greatly improved affordability conditions are contributing to higher sales,” he said.

The monthly sales gain was the largest on record for the total existing-home sales series dating back to 1999.

“Because price-to-income ratios have fallen below historical trends, there are more all-cash offers.  In some recovering markets like San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Orlando, the demand for foreclosed and lower priced homes has spiked, and a lack of inventory is becoming a common complaint,” Yun said.

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 5.22 percent in July from 5.42 percent in June; the rate was 6.43 percent in July 2008.

First-time buyers purchased 30 percent of homes in July, and distressed homes accounted for 31 percent of transactions.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast surged 13.4 percent to an annual pace of 930,000 in July, and are 3.3 percent higher than July 2008.  The median price in the Northeast was $236,700, down 15.0 percent from a year ago.

Existing-home sales in the Midwest jumped 10.9 percent in July to a level of 1.22 million and are 8.0 percent above a year ago.  The median price in the Midwest was $157,200, which is 5.9 percent less than July 2008.

In the South, existing-home sales rose 7.1 percent to an annual pace of 1.95 million in July and are 5.4 percent higher than July 2008.  The median price in the South was $164,500, down 7.1 percent from a year ago.

Existing-home sales in the West slipped 1.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.13 million in July, but are 1.8 percent above a year ago.  The median price in the West was $202,300, which is 28.0 percent below July 2008.

Data from National Association of Realtors.

Bureau of Labor figures show manufacturing employment fell by 52,000 in July and has declined by 2.0 million since the recession began. Retail trade employment declined by 44,000 and wholesale trade fell by 19,000. Transportation and warehousing also lost 22,000 jobs.

Employment in professional & ,business services, and financial activities continued to trend down in July.

Health care employment increased by 20,000 in July, about in line with the average monthly gain for the first half of this year but down from an average monthly increase of 30,000 during 2008. Employment in leisure and hospitality has been little changed over the past 3 months.

July 2009 earnings by industry sector

“These statistics allow users to track annual trends in nonemployer businesses down to the local level,” said C. Harvey Monk Jr., Associate Director for Economic Programs at the U.S. Census Bureau. “Businesses can use this data to help analyze market potential, to measure the effectiveness of sales and advertising programs and to develop their budgets.”

Total receipts for nonemployer businesses were $992 billion in 2007, a 2.2 percent increase from 2006.   Most nonemployers are self-employed individuals operating very small unincorporated businesses.  Of the total nonemployer businesses, 19.1 million were sole proprietorships, 1.4 million were corporations and 1.2 million were partnerships.

California (2.8 million), Texas (1.8 million) and Florida (1.6 million) had the most nonemployer businesses in the country, making up nearly 29 percent of all nonemployer businesses. Receipts of nonemployer firms in these same states totaled nearly $308 billion — 31 percent of all receipts from nonemployer businesses nationwide.

Among all states, Georgia led the nation in the growth rate of nonemployer businesses with a 6.9 percent increase between 2006 and 2007, followed by Alabama at 6.8 percent and North Carolina with a 6.7 percent increase.

Three economic sectors made up more than 40 percent of the total receipts — real estate services ($177 billion); professional, technical and scientific services ($130 billion); and specialty trade contractors ($97 billion). These three sectors comprised of 7.2 million businesses and represented more than 33 percent of all nonemployer businesses.

The plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors industry reported a 9 percent increase in nonemployer businesses in 2007, representing 11,000 additional businesses nationwide. The 137,990 businesses that made up this industry reported more than $8.1 billion in receipts, an average of nearly $59,000 per location. Among counties, Los Angeles, California  (4,596), Harris, Texas (2,898) and Miami-Dade, Florida  (2,480), had the most nonemployer plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractor locations.

The florists industry reported an increase of nearly 1,400 nonemployer businesses in 2007, to 25,609, with national receipts totaling $992 million.  California led all other states in revenue in the industry with nearly $175 million in receipts. Among larger counties, Palm Beach, Florida. ($65,993), Honolulu ($63,735) and Multnomah, Oregon ($63,100), generated the highest average receipts.

The child day care services industry reported 691,289 nonemployer businesses in 2007, with receipts totaling $8.9 billion. Los Angeles County, California  (33,716), Cook County, Illinois (23,760) and Bronx County, New York (18,449), had the most nonemployer child day care businesses, accounting for 11 percent of the businesses and 10 percent of the receipts in this industry. Among larger counties, Washington, Minnesota ($24,371), King, Washington ($21,798) and Anne Arundel, Maryland  ($20,185), generated the highest receipts per establishment.

American home sales also declined in January with some buyers waiting to see how details of the economic stimulus package would affect them. At the same time, inventories fell to a two-year low.

Lawrence Yun, National Association of Realtors (NAR) chief economist, said there was understandable hesitation by some house buyers. “Given so much stimulus package discussion in January, some would-be buyers simply sat out for clarity and certainty on the nature of housing stimulus,” he said. “The housing market will soon get a lift from very favourable buying conditions – not only from improved affordability, but also from the stimulus of an $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, and higher conforming loan limits that will allow more people to tap into 50-year low mortgage rates.”

NAR estimates the impact of the stimulus package and lower interest rates on the housing market to be about 900,000 additional home sales in 2009 compared to conditions before the stimulus package. Inventory is expected to fall below an 8-month supply by the year end, which would be consistent with house price stabilisation.

Yun said it will take a while for the stimulus to show in housing data. From the time a buyer starts looking for a home until it is reported as a closed sale can take as long as five months: a median of 10 weeks to search and make an offer, about 6 weeks to close the transaction and up to 4 weeks to collect and report the data. “This means improvement from the economic stimulus isn’t likely to show as closed home sales before summer, although we may see an earlier lift from lower mortgage interest rates,” he said.

Significant local market variations continue. “A majority of markets experienced sales declines of more than 20 percent from a year ago, but some markets appeared to have reached the tipping point of accelerating home buying,” Yun said. “For example, home sales in Las Vegas have more than doubled with some reports of multiple bids.”

Regionally, existing home sales in the Northeast were 23.8 percent lower than January 2008. The average home price in the Northeast was $228,200 down 14.7 percent from a year ago.

Existing home sales in the Midwest were 16.7 percent below a year ago and the average home price in the Midwest was $138,100,  which is 6.8 percent lower than January 2008.

In the South, existing house sales were 15.9 percent below January 2008. The average house price in the South was $152,100, down 7.4 percent from a year earlier.

Existing home sales in the West were unchanged from December and were 29.0 percent stronger than a year ago. The average home price in the West was $220,000, which is 25.5 percent below January 2008.

Total payroll employment dropped by 651,000 in February.  Employment declined in most major industry sectors, with the largest losses occurring in professional and business services (180,000), manufacturing (168,000), and construction (104,000).  The health care sector continued to add a modest number jobs over the month (27,000). Job growth occurred mainly in ambulatory health care and in hospitals.

American payroll employment has declined by 2.6 million in just the past 4 months. Since the recession began in December 2007, about 4.4 million jobs have been lost, with more than half (2.6 million) of the decrease occurring since November 2008.

In February, average hourly earnings of workers on rose to $18.55  and average weekly earnings rose to $617.72.  American wages haven risen sharply in terms of Sterling, as the pound has weakened considerably against the US Dollar recently.

“Though largely anticipated, the labour market data released today provides further evidence of worsening economic conditions in the United States. Even greater losses are expected for the near-term too though,” said Arek Ohanissian at the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

<h4>February 2009 earnings by industry sector</h4>
<table width=”390″ cellspacing=”1″ cellpadding=”2″ border=”0″ bgcolor=”darkgray” align=”center”>
<tr>
<td class=”tabletop” style=”width: 130px; height: 30px;”>Industry</td>
<td class=”tabletop” style=”width: 130px” height: 30px;>Average Weekly Earnings $ </td>
<td class=”tabletop” style=”width: 130px” height: 30px;>12 Month % change</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Natural resources and mining  </td>
<td class=”cell”>1008 </td>
<td class=”cell”>2.1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Construction </td>
<td class=”cell”>821 </td>
<td class=”cell”>2.6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Manufacturing/Durable Goods  </td>
<td class=”cell”>752 </td>
<td class=”cell”>-0.1</td>
</tr>
<td class=”cell”>Manufacturing/Nondurable Goods  </td>
<td class=”cell”>645 </td>
<td class=”cell”>1.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Wholesale trade </td>
<td class=”cell”>784 </td>
<td class=”cell”>3.2</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Retail trade </td>
<td class=”cell”>383 </td>
<td class=”cell”>0.8</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Transportation and
warehousing</td>
<td class=”cell”>666 </td>
<td class=”cell”>1.6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Utilities</td>
<td class=”cell”>1277 </td>
<td class=”cell”>4.7</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Information </td>
<td class=”cell”>923 </td>
<td class=”cell”>4.5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Financial activities </td>
<td class=”cell”>758 </td>
<td class=”cell”>6.1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Professional and business services</td>
<td class=”cell”>789 </td>
<td class=”cell”>10.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Education and health services</td>
<td class=”cell”>624 </td>
<td class=”cell”>3.3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Leisure and hospitality</td>
<td class=”cell”>276 </td>
<td class=”cell”>2.0</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Other services</td>
<td class=”cell”>501 </td>
<td class=”cell”>3.8</td>
</tr>
</table>

<br/>

According to The Dallas News, there are approximately 20,000 foreign-born people enlisted in the US military, and that number is expected to grow with the Government’s expansion of its recruitment programme.

The pilot programme will work much the same as a skilled migration programme as seen in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.  The US military is in need of medical skills – doctors and nurses – in areas such as Afghanistan, and will have 1,000 places to be filled for its first year.

Michael Aytes, the acting deputy director of the federal citizenship agency, said the programme is likely to be successful in terms of recruitment, purely because of the citizenship draw card.

Immediately after enlistment, the new recruits can apply for the citizenship process, Aytes said. “It is a wonderful inducement. They are really trying to find ways to reach out and get additional specialty skills,” he said.