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U.S. NEWS A7
US Financial Front:
Surge in home construction is lifting hopes for US economy
JOSH BOAK
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
U.S. housing market has
given a sudden jolt to what
appeared to be a slumping
economy.
Builders broke ground on
homes last month at the
fastest pace in more than
seven years. The stepped-
up construction is helping
boost sales at stores like
Home Depot and Lowe’s
and improving the likeli-
hood that the U.S. econ-
omy will accelerate after
likely shrinking early this
year.
In part, the surge in housing
starts in April reflected a re- squeezing U.S. exports and
bound from a dismal winter
that shut down construc-
tion sites and hampered
growth across the econo-
my. Builders may struggle
to maintain their robust
April pace. But there is rea-
son for optimism.
For one thing, construction
of single-family houses rose
in regions of the country
where winter weather had
had little impact. For an-
other, the rate of approved
building permits — a harbin-
ger of future construction
— rose a solid 10 percent
from March to April. That
reflects buyer demand.
American Living:
For many low-income workers, calling in sick is a luxury
ANNE D’INNOCENZIO
AP Retail Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — For Shan-
non Henderson, getting a
cold or flu could be the dif-
ference between putting
food on the table and go-
ing hungry.
As a part-time customer
service representative at a
Wal-Mart in Sacramento,
California, Henderson is
one of an estimated 40 mil-
lion American workers for
who calling in sick is a lux-
ury. If they don’t work, they
don’t get paid.
“I’m super afraid of get-
ting sick,” said Henderson,
29, who slathers on hand
sanitizer at work in hopes of
fending off illness.
Paid sick leave is the next
frontier in the fight for the
“If you’re willing to buy a
house, that speaks volumes
about your confidence, job
prospects and economic
fortunes going forward,”
said Michael Dolega, a se-
Construction on a new apartment complex continues on Pittsburgh’s Southside. The Commerce
Department released housing starts for April on Tuesday, May 19, 2015.
nior economist at TD Bank.
The hints of a healthier
economy follow a bleak
first quarter. Growth is
thought to have gone in re-
verse from January through
March, a result of a harsh
winter, a stronger dollar
country’s lowest earners.
Some of the same workers’
rights groups that grabbed
headlines recently by push-
ing companies for wage
hikes are steering the con-
versation toward paid sick
leave. The debate has
caught the attention of
governments and compa-
nies alike.
President Barack Obama
is calling for federal legis- paid sick days and family
lation that would require
companies to guarantee
workers paid sick days. And
since San Francisco started
requiring that in 2007, near- wide disparities between
ly 20 cities and three states the benefits received by
— Connecticut, Massachu-
setts and California — have
passed similar measures.
New York, Maryland and
other states are consider-
lower oil prices cutting into
factory orders.
On Tuesday, the govern-
ment reported a surprising
20.2 percent jump in resi-
dential construction to a
seasonally adjusted annual
pace of 1.14 million. As a
result, analysts at Barclays
slightly raised their forecast single-family houses.
for economic growth in the
April-June quarter to 2.7
percent from 2.6 percent,
and Macroeconomic Ad-
visers boosted its estimate
ing laws too. And McDon-
ald’s Corp. and Wal-Mart
Stores Inc., which have
announced wage hikes re-
cently, are making chang-
es to their paid sick leave
policies.
“Paid sick days are a job
issue,” said Ellen Bravo, ex-
ecutive director for Family
Values @ Work, a network
of coalitions fighting to pass There’s also a difference
leave policies. “When you
don’t have sick pay, you
get docked.”
The new focus comes amid
the top and bottom rungs
of the corporate ladder.
Sixty-one percent of U.S.
workers get at least one
paid sick day, according to
Wednesday 20 May 2015
to 2 percent from 1.9 per- that freezing temperatures
cent. and snowstorms held back
By region, house and apart- builders early in the year
ment building starts surged and that last quarter’s jump
last month in the Northeast, pointed to strong pent-up
Midwest and West, while demand.
In part, the increased home
building reflects a dual na-
ture of the U.S. economy:
Hiring has been solid even
(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) while overall economic
growth has remained fee-
slipping slightly in the South. ble.
All four regions enjoyed in- Employers added a healthy
creased construction of 223,000 jobs in April, caus-
ing the unemployment rate
The sharpest gain by far to slip to 5.4 percent from
was in the Northeast, 5.5 percent. The economy
where the pace of con- has gained about 3.1 mil-
struction soared nearly 86 lion jobs — and paychecks
percent. That suggested — over the past 12 months.
The economic growth that
those paychecks should
fuel has so far proved elu-
sive. Even so, demand for
housing has picked up.
Sales of existing homes
jumped 6 percent in March,
the National Association of
Realtors said last month.
But a tight supply has been
keeping a lid on sales: The
market has just 4.6 months’
worth of available homes,
compared with six months
in what economists would
consider a healthy market.
Further strong construction
could ease those worries
about supply.q
a national compensation sional affairs at Society for
survey of employee bene- Human Resource Manage-
fits conducted last year by ment, a human resource
the Bureau of Labor Statis- management trade group,
tics. says many companies are
But only 20 percent of work- leaning toward policies
ers whose wages are at that lump sick, personal
the bottom 10 percent get and vacation days togeth-
paid sick leave, compared er.
with 87 percent in the top But she says laws force
10 percent. companies to scale back
on those benefits to keep
when comparing part-time down the costs associat-
and full-time employees: ed with people taking sick
Seventy-four percent of days off.
full-time workers get paid “These mandates have a
sick leave, while 24 percent chilling effect on employ-
of part-time workers do, ac- ers’ ability to innovate and
cording to BLS. be creative with their leave
Despite the disparities, options,” she said.
some industry groups are
fighting against laws re- Continued on page 8
quiring sick leave pay. Lisa
Horn, director of congres-