by Calculated Risk on 6/13/2006 02:24:00 PM

From CNNMoney: Housing slowdown could hurt construction jobs

"Although construction employers expect to hire at a brisk pace again during the third quarter, hiring in this sector has inched downward throughout 2006," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, Chairman & CEO of Manpower Inc. "There is rampant speculation about the state of the housing market, and these survey results are another piece of evidence that point toward a cooling trend."

According to the survey, construction employers "in the West have the strongest hiring plans, while those in the Midwest report considerably weaker staffing expectations."

Manpower President of North America Jonas Prising added, "It's the only sector in the survey with a distinguishable tick downward. We may be seeing some of the housing backlog come to an end."

This is just the beginning of the impact on employment from the housing slowdown. I expect employers will be optimistic about the "next quarter" during the entire down trend.

Also, Reuteres reports: Freddie Mac sees slowdown in U.S. housing market

U.S. mortgage finance company Freddie Mac said on Tuesday that rising interest rates would lead to a slowdown in the U.S housing market but added it did not expect the market to crash.

"Rising interest rates will lead to a slowdown in the U.S. housing market," said Chief Executive Richard Syron, speaking to Reuters in Paris where he was on a business engagement.

"We do not think that there will be a crash. We think that by and large, overall, nationally, there will be a material slowing of the rate of appreciation of housing prices, but not an absolute decline," he added.

I also don't think there will be a "crash"; I expect housing prices to decline in real terms over several years.