Washington–Hampered by the housing decline and credit crisis, the U.S. unemployment rate hit its highest level since 2005 and employment was stagnant in December, according to a report released Friday by the Labor Department.In addition to the high unemployment rate, which shot up from 4.7 percent in November to 5 percent, the economy added the fewest amount of jobs in more than four years, The Washington Post reports.Total payrolls–encompassing both private employers and government–increased by a scant 18,000 in December, the lowest amount since the 2001 recession.Due to the housing slump, jobs were cut in the manufacturing, construction and financial…

Sacramento, Calif.–California’s housing decline–considered one of the nation’s worst–will hit bottom in 2008, according to the California Building Industry Association.The Sacramento, Calif.–based building industry trade group released a forecast Thursday that predicted developers will gain 10 percent more permits for 128,400 single-family and multifamily units this year, the The San Francisco Chronicle reports. The estimated number of permits in 2007 was 116,250, which was a 29 percent fall from the year before.The increase should start in the second half of 2008, the group said, as a result of population increases, lowered interest rates and a growing U.S. economy.However, several economists…

New York–U.S. state capitals are having trouble funding budget deficits due to the biggest increase in borrowing costs in three years, Bloomberg reported Friday.Since July, the extra yield that investors require on 10-year bonds from California, Florida, Massachusetts and New York have doubled. In addition, property values are declining–along with consumer spending, hurting sales tax revenue, which funds one-third of state budgets.As a result, the next fiscal year 13 states will have cash deficits totaling $30 billion, according to Washington research group The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.A survey released last month by the National Conference of State Legislatures…

Dublin–Although Irish building material company CRH, which operates in 30 countries, said its growth this year may slow, the company expects its 2007 pre-tax profits to be up 19 percent, according to The Telegraph.Pre-tax profits were forecast at £1.4 billion after the U.S. housing market declined, which was counteracted by cost cuts, higher material prices and continued growth in Europe.Although Dublin-headquartered CRH anticipates tough times in the U.S. housing market this year, just 30 percent of its U.S. business was exposed, according to Chief executive Liam O’Mahony.CRH spent £1.6 billion in the past year to purchase a Swiss builder and…

By Erin Brereton, Content ManagerWashington, D.C.–Nonprofit community revitalization organization NeighborWorks America, based in Washington D.C., announced it has been named in the recent FY2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act to administer a $180 million national counseling program to help reduce home mortgage defaults and foreclosures. Under the legislation, NeighborWorks America will provide grants for housing counseling intermediaries approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and to qualifying state housing finance agencies.NeighborWorks also will provide foreclosure counseling training courses.According to the legislation, NeighborWorks America must grant at least $167,800,000 to qualifying organizations that provide mortgage foreclosure mitigation assistance–primarily in areas…

Montgomery, Ala.–Miami-based real estate company Alterra Capital Group has announced the sale of a 120-unit multifamily property in Montgomery, Ala. to an unnamed private investor on the West Coast for approximately $4.3 million.Hidden Creek Village in Montgomery–formerly known as Woodley Downs Apartments–was abandoned and nearly vacant when Alterra acquired the property in 2005 for $1.5 million.The company invested an additional $500,000 in renovations, leaving Alterra with more than $2 million in net profits from the sale. Hidden Creek now features new signage and fencing, a new leasing center, a playground/gazebo area and a refinished swimming pool.The complex’s one-, two- and…

Madison, Wis.–House prices would have to lower by a significant amount to rebalance with U.S. rents, according to a study by two current and one prior Federal Reserve economists.Assuming rents rose 4 percent a year, home prices would need to drop 15 percent over the next five years, The Wall Street Journal reports.The study, which tracks rents and home prices back to 1960, is by Andreas Lehnert and Robert F. Martin, staff economists at the Fed, and Morris Davis, an economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a staff economist at the Fed until 2006.Rents historically have been around 5…

New York–The U.S. housing slump raged on during the fourth quarter of 2007–but not in Manhattan, where reports from four major real estate brokerage firms released Thursday showed property sold for record prices.The average New York apartment price rose 17.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006 to 2007, hitting $1.4 million at the end of the year, according to brokerage firm Prudential Douglas Elliman.The number of apartment sales increased by 3.2 percent, compared with the same time period in 2006, The New York Times reported Thursday. Apartments also sold faster than a year ago by an average of 18…

Boston–Facing potential legal action from unhappy customers, State Street Corporation will create a $618 million reserve, The Boston Globe reported Thursday.State Street will take a $279 million charge to cover any subprime-related legal costs resulting from customers who feel its Global Advisors section may not have handled underperforming fixed-income investments as they wished.Some investment strategies were affected by subprime mortgage market exposure and liquidity issues and that it will “vigorously” defend itself against the claims, according to the Globe.Fiscal 2007 earnings per share will be between $3.42 and $3.45, based on a revenue increase of more than 30 percent from…

Cleveland–Following the lead of other regional banks, Cleveland-based National City announced Wednesday it would cut its dividend and fire employees in the wake of the mortgage market chaos,Forbes reports.In the third quarter, National City’s mortgage business–plagued by rising customer defaults–lost $152 million, reducing the company’s profits by 80 percent from 2006.As a result, National City has reduced its mortgage offerings. On Wednesday, the bank announced it would eliminate 900 employees from National City Mortgage.National City stock also has suffered from its subprime woes. Shares tumbled 56.5 percent in the past year, leaving an unusually high annual dividend yield of more…