The Nebraska State Home Builders Association (NSHBA) is a non-profit trade association comprised of four local associations across the state of Nebraska. NSHBA actively works to address issues that are critical to the survival and success of the home building industry. NSHBA is also focusing on housing affordability and workforce development issues.

In cooperation with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), we advocate for residential homeowners, renters, and professional builder members at the state and national levels. Efforts include lobbying for reasonable, economical laws, regulations, codes, and standards to ensure the sufficient availability of reasonably priced, quality new homes and residential housing to meet the demand of the local market, now and in the future. As well as training, education, and professional development to members, industry professionals, and the public at large on important issues. Including but not limited to legislation, safety, codes, regulations, standards, new building products, techniques, professional skills, industry and economic trends.

A Message from Your NSHBA President: I hope this Newsletter finds you well and about to enjoy the upcoming Holiday. Below I’ve listed some key points from our recent meeting in DC. We were almost 1000 strong in D.C. bringing a message that housing is over-regulated and there is no longer “affordable housing” in this country.....

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The count of open, unfilled positions in the construction industry held steady amid a slowdown for housing, per the May Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).

The number of open jobs for the overall economy increased slightly from 7.40 million in April to 7.77 million in May. This is smaller than the 7.90 million estimate reported a year ago and reflects a softened aggregate labor market. However, the May estimate was a stronger number than expected and runs counter to some other, recent negative reporting of labor market data.

Previous NAHB analysis indicated that this number had to fall below 8 million on a sustained basis for the Federal Reserve to move forward on interest rate reductions. With estimates remaining below 8 million for national job openings, the Fed, in theory, should be able to cut further despite a recent pause. There is growing pressure on the Fed to do so.

The number of open construction sector jobs was effectively unchanged from a revised 242,000 in April to 245,000 in May. This nonetheless marks a significant reduction of open, unfilled construction jobs than that registered a year ago (375,000) due to a slowing of construction/housing activity. The chart below notes the recent decline for the construction job openings rate, which is now near the lows of 2019.

The construction job openings rate was steady at 2.8% in May, although significantly lower year-over-year from 4.4%.

The layoff rate in construction held at 2% in May. The quits rate increased on a monthly basis to 2.3%, the same as a year ago.