Unemployment in March still worrisome

It should not be a surprise to hear what many realtors are talking about right now- Many prospective home buyers are just looking, but making no offer.

The job market is still shaky. According to marketwatch, a slight drop in jobless claims is largely due to the Census work, for which the U.S. government hires many temp workers.  After the Census work is done, these temp jobs will be gone.

The website says that 162,000 new jobs seen in March are really not much compared to more than 8 million jobs lost since the begining of the recession.

Long term unemployment rate was even worse in March and a record 6.5 million people had been jobless for more than six months.

As the weather is getting warmer or even hotter, more and more homeowners are putting out home for sale signs, but the potential home buyers aren't making as many offers as expected at this time of year.

The real estate market will still be the buyers' market as long as the unemployment rate remains high.

DL