District of Columbia

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. — 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.

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. — A total of 576,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment assistance for the week that ended April 10, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. These claims were the lowest figures seen since March 14, 2020 (256,000 claims). The amount of initial jobless claims was lower than the 744,000 figure that economists surveyed by Dow Jones predicted. Continuing claims, for which data lags a week, decreased by 98,000 to a little more than 3.76 million. In addition to the stimulus checks distributed last month, unemployed workers can get an additional $300 each week until September of this year. Currently more people are spending money on gyms, hotels and restaurants as they have more discretionary income, according to CNBC. Despite the positive tailwinds, the U.S. economy remains in recovery mode. U.S. payrolls in March were still lower than their level in February 2020 by approximately 8.4 million.