The latest jobs report from ADP was down from anticipated levels, but continues to improve. According to the report, the United States added 179,000 jobs in April, short of the 198,000 expected.

According to the New York Times, "While employment accelerated sharply around the turn of the year, the monthly gains have been holding fairly steady around 200,000 since then. Employment growth at this pace is consistent with only modest declines in the unemployment rate."

The construction industry had welcome news in April, increasing employment by 9,000. This is the first monthly increase in this sector in years. Though still down over 2 million jobs from its peak in 2007, these latest numbers may indicate the industry has hit bottom and is now on the mend.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reports that the economy is recovering at a moderate pace. The labor market, he notes, has been improving and unemployment has declined. On the flip side of this news, however, is the fact, he says, that long-term unemployment remains at historically high levels, especially for minorities, the young, and those will less education.

Partially to blame for the slowed recovery, unfortunately, is the housing market. Bernanke notes that there are still a high number of foreclosures and homeowners who find themselves "under water" in their homes. This has left many areas affected by vacancies, which in turn affect home values even further. And in this chicken and the egg scenario, unemployment is also to blame for many of the foreclosures seen on the market.

Bernanke reports that "declines in the values of homes and stocks sharply reduced the wealth of many Americans during the crisis. Three-fifths or more of families across all income groups reported a decline in wealth between 2007 and 2009, and the typical household lost nearly one-fifth of its wealth, regardless of income group. Moreover, one in eight of the households ...l started the crisis with zero or negative net worth and thus had scant resources to fall back on to maintain their standard of living during bouts of unemployment."

According to Realty Trac, one in every 542 households nationwide was in foreclosure in March. This trend was even more pronounced in Nevada and California, which saw 1 in 88 and 1 in 223 households in foreclosure.

Stan Humphries, chief economist at Zillow, reports, "When we look back on the current housing downturn a decade from now, we’ll remember many things: The foreclosures, the sinking home values, the consolidating households and the tough decisions many families had to make. But, more than in any other housing recession, one statistic will stick in our minds. Negative equity—the percentage of homeowners who owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth—is both the symptom of our housing excesses, and the disease that has kept the housing market on its knees."

Hopefully, with continued rises in employment, we'll see strides made in the health of the housing market.

Published: May 9, 2011

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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.