The Daily Money: Thank the government for the sturdy U.S. job growth

The development marks a turnabout from last year when states and localities struggled to compete with a private sector

Advertisement Read in browser Read in browser The Daily Money ALL THE MONEY NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW Thu Aug 3 2023 Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy |  National Housing and Economy Correspondent @SwapnaVenugopal Happy almost Friday, dear The Daily Money readers! This is Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy bringing you today's top headlines You can thank the government for the sturdy U.S. job growth despite the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes. The public sector, especially state and local governments, has added 379,000 jobs in the first half of 2023, comprising almost one-quarter of the nation's nearly 1.7 million payroll gains. That's an outsize share since federal, state and local governments make up just 14.5% of total employment. The development marks a turnabout from last year when states and localities struggled to compete with a private sector that offered much bigger pay increases and widespread remote work options in response to severe labor shortages. In this Friday, June 21, 2013 file photo, plumber Daniel Bordwell installs a kitchen faucet on a home under construction in Sacramento, Calif. Another solid month of hiring in June 2013 could signal the start of a stronger second half of the year for the U.S. economy. The Fed's low interest-rate policies have encouraged more Americans to buy homes and cars. They've also helped boost stock and home prices in the first half of the year, increasing wealth and lifting consumers' confidence to its highest level in 5½ years. Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press "In what has generally been a strong budget climate, many states have taken steps to address these longstanding challenges through pay raises, hiring bonuses, and other strategies," says Melissa Maynard, senior officer of state fiscal health for The Pew Charitable Trusts . International buyers are going for fewer homes in the US. Where are they shopping? The number of existing homes purchased by foreign buyers from April 2022 to March 2023 decreased to the lowest level since 2009, according to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors. International buyers purchased $53.3 billion worth of U.S. residential properties during the period, down 9.6% from the previous year. The 84,600 existing homes sold was a decline of 14% from the prior year. Lower housing inventory in the U.S., higher borrowing costs across the world and a strong dollar are reasons for the slowdown, according to NAR's chief economist Lawrence Yun. China and Canada remained first and second in U.S. residential sales dollar volume at $13.6 billion and $6.6 billion, respectively, continuing a trend going back to 2013. Mexico ($4.2 billion), India ($3.4 billion) and Colombia ($900 million) rounded out the top five. 📰 More stories you shouldn't miss 📰 Stores are locking up products to curb shoplifters. How that's affecting paying customers. 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