Wednesday's Scoop: Calm🌤️

Hey friend - 🐪🐪

Here’s what you need to know today to inform your work, spending, and investments…

1. The job market keeps getting a little more challenging.

2. Home purchases jumped last week as more supply hit the market.

3. Regulators will now require public companies to report their emissions.

The job market keeps getting a little more challenging, though it’s still historically good. Job openings are abundant but slowly declining. The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey revealed that the number of available positions fell marginally to 8.863 million in January. That’s roughly 1.45 open roles for every unemployed American, down from 2:1 early last year but well above pre-pandemic levels of 1.2. Employees and employers are both hesitant to make moves right now. The number of people quitting their jobs declined for the fifth straight month to the lowest level in three years while the layoff rate stayed the same. Job openings picked up notably in professional and business services, manufacturing, and education.

Companies will now be required to report climate-related risks to their business and their plans to manage them, following a landmark rule introduced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, the final rule is less stringent than initially proposed. Notably, it no longer mandates companies to report Scope 3 emissions, which encompass indirect emissions from supply chains and product use, typically the bulk of a company's carbon footprint. (For example, most of an oil company’s emissions are from customers burning gas, not the actual operations of pumping oil.) While companies are still expected to disclose their direct emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 2), the requirement has been relaxed, allowing companies to judge the materiality of this information for themselves. The rule does force companies to outline their plans for addressing material risks related to climate change, including things like drought, wildfires, and hurricanes, aiming to provide investors with a clearer picture of the holistic risks facing businesses today.

30yr Mortgage Rate: 7.0%
^{That’s up from 6.6% a year ago. (MBA)}
Median Home Price: $382,600
^{That’s up from $367K a year ago. (NAR)}

New home buyers are getting impatient, waiting for things to get more affordable. The Mortgage Bankers Association said applications to purchase a home surged 11% last week despite the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage staying above 7%. That’s significantly lower than the peak of rates in October but still nearly double what mortgages cost a few years ago.

Last week’s surge in home buyers could have been motivated by an influx of the most newly built homes hitting the market since 2020, according to Realtor.com. Supply has been minimal due to homeowners hanging on to their cheaper mortgage rates, but the number of homes for sale in February was up 15% from last year. There has been a notable increase in homes priced in the $200,000 to $350,000 range, helping with affordability.

The Market: ⬆️ +0.5%
S&P 500: 5,104.76
1Mo: +2% | 1Yr: +28% | 5Yr: +86%

The market drifted higher Wednesday without any significant shocks from policymakers. The Federal Reserve Chairman reiterated that they're still waiting to see a persistent decline in inflation before easing economic restrictions.