Economic Update September 15, 2021

– Job Claims are the lowest they have been since the beginning of the pandemic – Keeping a close eye on rising inflation with a key number expected this week – Moratoriums are ending and already there is a rise in foreclosure and people losing their homes Claims for Jobless Fall to the Lowest Levels Since Pandemic Began According to Labor Department reports, initial jobless claims dropped by 35,000 to 310,000 a week ago. This is the lowest number of claims since March 2020, when the pandemic ravaged. (Before the pandemic in March 2020, the average number of jobless claims per week was 220,000. Since mid-July, when the number of claims was 424,000, they have been steadily falling. Although activity has slowed down, layoffs remain limited. According to economists, this indicates that businesses are optimistic about the future. Remember that this week was the last full week when people were eligible to receive special pandemic-related aid. The programs were ended Monday and 7.5 million people lost their jobless benefits. An additional 3 million people will have their weekly unemployment checks reduced by $300. Due to the severe flooding caused by Hurricane Ida, there could be an increase in claims over the next few weeks. New claims were most prevalent in Missouri, Florida, New York. California, Michigan, and Louisiana saw the largest increases. The number of people who are currently receiving state unemployment benefits fell by 22,000 to 2.78 million, seasonally adjusted for inflation, in the week ending Aug. 28. These ” Continuing Claims “, also known as ” Continuing Claims “, are at an all-time low. As of Aug. 21, approximately 11.9 million people had been receiving benefits from eight different federal or state programs, a drop of 12.2 million the week before. The total number of claims reached 30 million at the peak of the pandemic. Foreclosure Activity Rises After Moratoriums End ATTOM has released their August 2021 “U.S. Foreclosure Market Report” which shows that 15,838 properties had filed for foreclosure (i.e. This is a 60% increase in default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions compared to a year ago. These figures reflect the first month after the government moratorium was lifted. The next three months will see an increase in foreclosure activity as loans that were not in default before the moratorium are re-entered the foreclosure pipeline and states catch up on the months of filings that have not been processed due to the pandemic. Lenders began the foreclosure process for 8,348 properties in August 2021. This is an increase of 49 percent over a year. One in eighteen,677 housing units nationwide had a foreclosure filing by August 2021. The most common culprits were California (1,240 foreclosure start); Texas (1,060 foreclosed starts); Florida (643 foreclosure start); Illinois (506 foreclosed starts); and New York (479). New York (486 foreclosure start); Chicago (439 foreclosure start); Los Angeles (401 foreclosure begins); Houston (322 foreclosure started); and Dallas-Fort Worth (248 foreclosed starts) Please reach out to us with any questions.