Is the slow pace of the economy limiting job growth? That's the sentiment from Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke. Last Tuesday Bernanke had a chance to discuss issues other than the recent Bond purchase, and during this time he brought up concerns over job growth. Bernanke noted, "At the pace of growth that we’re seeing now, we’re not growing fast enough to materially reduce the unemployment rate." He says "the economy needs to grow at an annualized rate of 2 to 2.5 percent just to accommodate new workers coming into the labor force."

And while the recession officially ended over a year ago, unemployment has remained nearly constant at 9.6 percent from June of 2009.

According to The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, however, consumers are increasingly upbeat about future job prospects, with those polled expecting more jobs, income increases, and fewer job declines.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® has improved for 2 straight months now. This index is based on a monthly representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center reports, "Consumer confidence is now at its highest level in five months, a welcome sign as we enter the holiday season. Consumers' assessment of the current state of the economy and job market, while only slightly better than last month, suggests the economy is still expanding, albeit slowly. Expectations, the main driver of this month's increase in confidence, are now at the highest level since May. Hopefully, the improvement in consumers' mood will continue in the months ahead."

Commercial real estate markets are reportedly stabilizing, as well. Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS® reports that the slowly improving economy has led to a rise in commercial leasing demand. He says this "means overall vacancy rates have already peaked or will soon top out."

Yun anticipates a rise in household formation from an improving economy, which will increase demand for housing, both ownership and rental. "Multifamily housing is the one commercial sector that has held on relatively well in the past year, and can expect the best performance in 2011," he added.

"Apartment rents could rise by 1 to 2 percent in 2011, after having fallen in 2009 and no growth in 2010," Yun said. "This rent rise therefore could start to force up broader consumer prices as well."

Published: December 6, 2010

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Carla Hill, M.A., works on the Realty Times staff as Managing Editor for our online publication. She also is Producer for the real estate news channel, seen daily on RealtyTimes.com and on video newsletters nationwide.