If Steve Hovland’s near-term outlook for U.S. job growth is correct, the second half of 2017 looks quite promising for the commercial real estate industry. “The pace of hiring should accelerate in the second half of the year as Congress moves past healthcare reform and begins to lift regulations that stymie growth,” says the director of research at Irvine, California-based HomeUnion Inc., an online real estate management firm that helps individuals invest remotely in rental properties. “Furthermore, companies will have a better understanding of how policy changes will evolve with the new administration, giving them more confidence to resume hiring,” continues Hovland. “We expect 1.4 million new jobs to be created over the final two quarters of 2017.” The comments from Hovland come on the heels of the latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which shows total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 222,000 in June, beating economists’ expectations. Leading up to the release of the report last Friday, the consensus among the nation’s top forecasters was that the U.S. economy had added 180,000 jobs in June. The BLS also revised the job gains for April and May upward by 47,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose slightly …
