Research Finds Housing Market Making Positive Impact on Job Creation in U.S.

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red checkmark It is easy to understand how more people working leads to a growing housing market, but research from CareerBuilder and Economic Modeling Specialists (EMSI) have taken a look at how the housing recover has, in turn, affected employment.

“Several industry segments closely tied to the housing sector have experienced encouraging job growth over the last 12 to 18 months as home prices and sales inch up, and the economy improves,” Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder, said. “While some segments may still be trailing pre-recession employment levels and may not fully recover jobs lost, we’re seeing signs of a rebound in everything from construction and mortgage banking to home furnishing stores.”

After sustaining devastating employment losses during the recession, many housing-related industries have experienced a job growth boom since 2011. The report found that the U.S. has added over 187,000 construction jobs since that time with the construction industry now employing approximately 7.8 million workers. Industries outside of construction have also seen steady job growth. Housing supply chain jobs were found to have increased by 3 percent (over 59,000 jobs) since 2011, with the industry now employing over 1.75 million workers.

Other industries affected by the housing boom include: mortgage and non-mortgage loan brokers (added over 19,000 jobs since 2011; 85,000 jobs overall), home centers and other home furnishing stores (added 24,000 jobs since 2011; 823,000 jobs overall), building materials dealers (added 11,300 jobs; 318,000 jobs overall), hardware, paint, and wallpaper stores (added 4,000 jobs; 184,000 jobs overall), and upholstered household furniture manufacturing (added 1,800 jobs; 54,000 jobs overall).

 

By Joshua Bjerke