SUNNYVALE, CA-Job openings nationwide rose 4.5% month-over-month and 9.9% year-over-year, according to SimplyHired, a job website. The firm has released its August 2013 employment outlook, which found that nationwide job competition remained at a ratio of three unemployed persons for every job opening and highlights job-industry and employer trends in national and regional US markets.
Moreover, the combination of improving job growth and limited development in primary markets is boosting self-storage operations and sparking investor demand, according to Marcus & Millichap’s second-quarter self-storage report, which offers insights into key self-storage trends, including changes in occupancy rates, rents and inventory levels, and an assessment of sales dynamics.
M&M’s report reveals that an influx of tech and medical-related jobs will experience the most significant self-storage demand as secondary and tertiary markets remain tepid until job growth reaches beyond major employment centers. Also, REITs will dominate self-storage investment activity as they continue to target high-quality assets, leaving private investors with opportunities in secondary markets.
“With nationwide job openings increasing for the third month in a row, we see an improved outlook for those who are unemployed,” said Gautam Godhwani, co-founder and CEO of SimplyHired, in a prepared statement. “While there is uncertainty with the nation’s slow-growing economy and whether the Federal Reserve may stimulate it in the coming months, it’s clear that companies across the US are looking to hire in the meantime.”
For the second month in a row, according to SimplyHired’s report, job openings increased in all 50 of the major metros, with Grand Rapids, MI; Cleveland and Akron, OH; and Salt Lake City experiencing the largest increases. Metro-area job competition also improved slightly for job seekers in Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and Houston.
Job openings increased in three-quarters of all industries in July, with hospitality and non-profit showing the largest amount of growth. Industries that decreased in job openings include retail, construction, media and manufacturing.
As for types of jobs, law enforcement, fire and safety jobs and engineering positions increased the most, and the only occupation experiencing a decline month-over-month was educators. In addition, the nation’s top hiring companies continue to be healthcare-related, followed by technology and financial companies.
Godhwani could not be reached by GlobeSt.com before deadline to discuss what impact the employment outlook’s findings may have on the commercial real estate industry.
Also, job upswings in the tech sector have led to office vacancy recoveries in tech-rich metros, but overall the office market has maintained limited momentum, according to M&M’s national office outlook. The very limited office-development pipeline has been a positive element for vacancy rates nationwide, but chronic tenant uncertainty will continue to plague most landlords for several months at least as tenants try to find creative solutions to reduced space requirements, M&M reports. The firm predicts that modest supply and limited construction will increase positive performance indicators throughout the year.
As GlobeSt.com reported last week, the US economy added 163,000 jobs in July, an increase from the past few sluggish months, but not the benchmark that many economists would like to see the economy meet—that is, more than 200,000 jobs a month. The US Labor Department also reported that the unemployment rate rose to 8.3% from 8.2% the previous month.
For more information on Marcus & Millichap’s research reports, click here. For more information on SimplyHired’s jobs report, click here.
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Carrie Rossenfeld
Carrie Rossenfeld is a reporter for the San Diego and Orange County markets on GlobeSt.com and a contributor to Real Estate Forum. She was a trade-magazine and newsletter editor in New York City before moving to Southern California to become a freelance writer and editor for magazines, books and websites. Rossenfeld has written extensively on topics including commercial real estate, running a medical practice, intellectual-property licensing and giftware. She has edited books about profiting from real estate and has ghostwritten a book about starting a home-based business.
