Slower Brevard County Housing Market Cools Jobs
The once-hot Brevard County housing market spawned more than a lot of homes. It also created more construction jobs.
But no more, according to a new survey on the local job market.
As Florida real estate slides, construction is among those job sectors in which staffing levels are expected to hold steady in the third quarter, from July through September, according to a quarterly employment outlook survey by Manpower Inc. released today.
Other sectors in which staffing levels are expected to be flat are non-durable-goods manufacturing, transportation / public utilities, wholesale / retail trade, and education and public administration.
A national survey found similar results.
“The survey suggests that it will be a cool summer when it comes to hiring,” Manpower Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Joerres said.
“Employers are holding steady with their employment projections for the third quarter, and taking a wait-and-see approach as they begin to look toward year-end,” Joerres said.
The Daytona Beach, Orlando and Port St. Lucie housing markets - in addition to Brevard - had some of Florida’s worst results for the third quarter, suggesting the lackluster hiring outlook is a regional phenomenon, said Lisa Rice, executive director of the Brevard Workforce Development Board.
The number of local openings listed by the Brevard Workforce Development Board has decreased, “but not to the point where we would be overly concerned,” Rice said.
Brevard’s unemployment rate has been consistently below 4 percent - which some economists define as full employment, meaning that, generally, anyone looking for a job should be able to at least find an entry-level position.
Brevard County’s unemployment rate was 3.6 percent in April, the latest-available figure, even at a time when high Florida mortgage costs have cooled the housing market down considerably.
Some economists - including Sean Snaith at the University of Central Florida - expect unemployment to rise in the months ahead as the Florida housing market remains stagnant.
But he does not see the economy slipping into a recession.
“The biggest impact of the housing slowdown on the economy is over,” said Snaith, director of UCF’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness. “But unemployment rates are going to start going up through the rest of 2007 before stabilizing in 2008 at about 5 percent.”
A key finding in the survey was that only 13 percent of local employers plan to increase staffing in the third quarter. That was down from 43 percent in the second quarter and 50 percent in the third quarter.
In terms of overall hiring outlooks, employers in Florida and nationwide are more optimistic than those in Brevard County, according to Manpower.
The nationwide survey found 29 percent of employers expect to increase their payrolls in the third quarter, 7 percent plan to trim staffing, 58 percent expect no changes and 6 percent are undecided.
Statewide, the survey found 31 percent of employers expect to up payrolls in the third quarter, while 12 percent plan to cut staffing, 50 percent expect no changes and 7 percent are undecided.
“In general, employer optimism about hiring is expected to hold firm in the third quarter across most industry sectors,” said Jonas Prising, president of Manpower North America.
“However, employers in select industries are losing consumer confidence when it comes to adding employees, including those in the construction, wholesale / retail trade and the finance / insurance / real estate sectors,” Prising said.
SOURCE: Florida Today
