WASHINGTON, D.C. — A total of 473,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment insurance assistance for the week that ended May 8, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. These claims were a decrease of 34,000 from last week’s revised unemployment claims of 507,000 and were the lowest level the claims have been since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The claims are still double than what they were before the pandemic started. Following government stimulus checks and expanded unemployment benefits, some employers have decided to pay their workers more, in order to incentivize them to stay working. By the end of June, Chipotle Mexican Grill says it plans to raise its hourly wages to $15 an hour, as well as a $200 employee referral bonus for current employees. McDonald’s has also announced it is raising the hourly wages for its U.S. company-owned restaurants by an average of 10 percent. The Wall Street Journal reports that in the week that ended April 17, 16.2 million Americans were receiving unemployment benefits. The newspaper also reports that average hourly earnings have risen by 21 cents to $30.17 in April for private-sector employees.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy added 266,000 jobs in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected the report to show a gain of approximately 1 million jobs. The BLS also revised the March job gains downward from 916,000 to 770,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate increased 10 basis points to 6.1 percent in April, which was the first time the unemployment rate has increased since March 2020. The BLS report for April showed notable job gains in the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 331,000 jobs as a result of several states easing up their pandemic-related restrictions on stores, bars and restaurants. States such as Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi and Florida rolled back their pandemic restrictions significantly after millions of Americans received the COVID-19 vaccine. However, some employment sectors posted a decrease in job growth in April. For example, the temporary help services sector recorded a decrease of 111,000 jobs, manufacturing saw a decrease of 18,000 jobs and retail trade posted a decrease of 15,000 jobs. The BLS also reported the local government education sector posted an increase in 31,000 jobs in April, while many other sectors were relatively unchanged, …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) has publicly stated that there should no longer be a nationwide eviction moratorium, a position the Washington, D.C.-based organization has held for the better part of a year. The statement is in response to a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich on Wednesday, May 5, to vacate the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eviction ban that began last year and was extended through June 2021. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people lost their jobs and could not pay their rent, according to the NMHC. In April 2020, there was a spike in unemployment claims with 14.8 percent of Americans unemployed. The CDC implemented a nationwide eviction moratorium, which would ensure that Americans who had lost their jobs or were struggling financially were not going to become homeless due to the pandemic. The NMHC stated that it believes the eviction moratorium is no longer a necessary solution with unemployment numbers decreasing and more and more people getting one of the three available COVID-19 vaccines. The association added that the best solution to help people afford their living situations is to provide Americans with the resources …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A total of 498,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment insurance assistance for the week that ended May 1, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. These claims were a decrease of 92,000 from last week’s revised unemployment claims of 590,000 and were lower than the Dow Jones estimate of 527,000. Continuing claims, for which data lags a week, increased by 37,000 to just below 3.7 million claims. The latest weekly first-time unemployment claims set another pandemic-era low and are approaching pre-pandemic figures — claims totaled 256,000 for the week that ended March 14, 2020.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lowe and joint venture partner Mitsui Fudosan America have broken ground on Gallery 64, a 492-unit, 12-story apartment building that sits at the site of the former Randall Junior High School in Washington, D.C. The 500,000-square-foot redevelopment of the 2.7-acre site includes the preservation and repurposing of existing historic buildings into the Rubell Museum. Gallery 64’s apartment residences, 98 of which are designated as affordable, will include studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans. The property will have 19 two-level, townhouse-style residences as well. Community amenities will include rooftop gathering spaces with fire pits, grilling stations and outdoor kitchens, a dog walk and a resort-style pool. Indoor communal areas will include a lounge with fireplace, game room, fitness center and a maker space with sound studio. A landscaped area will be in between Gallery 64 and the Rubell Museum. The Randall School buildings closed in 1982. Two of the school’s three buildings will be transformed into the approximately 31,000-square-foot Rubell Museum, presenting contemporary paintings, sculptures, photographs and installations. Entry to the museum will be free of charge to all residents of Washington, D.C. The West Randall building will be reconfigured as an approximately 18,000-square-foot creative office building designed …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A total of 553,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment insurance assistance for the week that ended April 24, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. These claims were a decrease of 13,000 from last week’s revised unemployment claims, which was revised up by 19,000 from 547,000 to 566,000. In the first quarter of 2021, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annualized rate of 6.4 percent, which was the second-highest growth since 2003 but slightly below the 6.5 percent predicted by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The fastest growth of GDP was seen in the third quarter of last year (an annualized rate of 33.1 percent). The first-quarter GDP growth includes the influence of the second round of stimulus checks issued by the government. According to CNBC, the Bureau of Economic Research says that the United States is still not out of a recession yet due to how GDP in total has not passed last year’s peak. The news outlet also reports that while 14 million Americans have returned, the Federal Reserve says the U.S. workforce is still short about 8.4 million jobs compared to pre-pandemic times.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — JLL Capital Markets has arranged $197 million in senior debt for the refinancing of a 10-property retail portfolio totaling over 1 million square feet located in the Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Chicago, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle metros. Tarik Bateh, Greg Brown, Bruce Ganong, Keith Largay, Chris Hew and Drew Heitstuman of JLL arranged the financing on behalf of the borrower, a co-investment partnership managed by Jacksonville-based Regency Centers Corp. Hartford Investment Management Co. (HIMCO) provided the 10 interest-only loans, all of which featured 10-year terms and fixed interest rates. The portfolio is approximately 97 percent leased overall and includes grocery and pharmacy neighborhood centers anchored by Trader Joe’s, Giant, Safeway, Ralph’s, Albertson’s, Mariano’s, Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A total of 547,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment insurance assistance for the week that ended April 17, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. These claims were a decrease of 39,000 from last week’s revised unemployment claims of 586,000. The claims were a new pandemic low, and also lower than the Dow Jones estimate of 603,000. Continuing claims, for which data lags a week, decreased by 34,000 to nearly 3.7 million claims. While these unemployment claims are lower than previous months, these claims are still higher than before the pandemic. In 2019, the weekly average of first-time unemployment claims was approximately 218,000, according to the The Wall Street Journal. There are also still 8 million less Americans working than before the pandemic, according to CNBC.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bipartisan group from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives has introduced legislation that would expand and strengthen the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) program. The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA) of 2021 was introduced by senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Todd Young (R-IN), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rob Portman (R-OH); and representatives Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Jackie Walorski (R-IN), Don Beyer (D-VA) and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH). First introduced in 2016, the most recent version of the AHCIA earned the bipartisan support of more than one-third of the 116th Congress. The 2021 bill would accelerate the proposed housing credit allocation increase and proposes a new flexibility to allow housing credit developments to maximize private activity bond financing. The legislation would also provide states with additional flexibilities, streamline program rules and make the housing credit more effective in rural and Native American communities. The bill would also help states use the housing credit to benefit their lowest-income residents, such as homeless veterans. “More than 10 million households nationwide were paying more than half of their monthly income on rent prior to the COVID-19 crisis, and millions more are now struggling to keep a roof over their heads,” says …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Commerce Department reports that retail sales increased 9.8 percent in March, following a 2.7 percent decrease in February. The numbers surpassed the Dow Jones economists’ prediction of a 6.1 percent gain for the month. The sales growth is the biggest monthly gain since May 2020 (18.3 percent), which also came after a round of stimulus checks. According to CNBC, the newly issued stimulus checks gave consumers more discretionary income to spend on goods and services from retailers and restaurants than they had in February. The sporting goods, clothing and food and beverage categories generated the greatest increases in sales since pre-pandemic. Bar and restaurants saw an increase of 13.4 percent, while sporting goods sales increased by 23.5 percent. Clothing and accessories retailers had an 18.3 percent increase, and motor vehicle parts and dealers experienced a 15.1 percent jump. Some economists predict that people are still trying to save a portion of their stimulus checks. According to the CNBC, people saved 34.5 percent of stimulus checks and spent 29.2 percent. The news outlet also reported that inflation is becoming an increasing worry for economists as there has already been an increase in gas prices.