BLS Daily Report, Tuesday Feb. 26

[Richardson_D <Richardson_D@xxxxxxx>]

North Carolina, at 5.5%, had the highest unemployment-rate increase among
states last year from the year before, says the Bureau of Labor Statistics
(The Wall Street Journal, page A1).

The home-buying market remained strong in January, as existing home sales
across the U.S. surged to a monthly record. The data got a lift from
unusually warm weather and continuing low interest rates. Seasonally
adjusted, existing homes sold at an annual rate of 6.04 million units in
January, up 16.2% from 5.20 million units in December, according to the
National Association of Realtors. January marked the first time the nation's
home-sales rate exceeded six million units, and it outpaced the previous
record of 5.49 million units in August 2001. In addition, January's strength
was broad-based, as each of the nation's four regions reported record sales
levels (The Wall Street Journal, page A2).

Mild weather and low mortgage interest rates combined to produce the biggest
January ever for home resales. Across the USA, existing homes sold during
the month at an annualized rate of 6.04 million. The strong monthly sales
pace, the first above six million, far exceeded economists' expectations and
blew away the 5.49 million sales rate in August of last year. Prices in
January were up sharply, too, the National Association of Realtors said. The
sales midpoint in January of $151,100 is up 10.2% from January 2001 (The New
York Times, page C10; and The Washington Post, page E3).

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