Sharkey, Howes & Javer

This week on Inside the Economy, we discuss the housing market, consumer debt, and the current job market. Consumer spending is up right alongside total household debt, which has hit record highs for both housing and other loans. With mortgage late payments ticking up just a bit and foreclosures staying well below levels seen during the 2008 financial crisis, what does this higher level of borrowing mean for the economy? On the housing front, while long term indexes show a post pandemic leap, recent data reveals that median asking rents have cooled to sit about 4% below their 2022 peak. Could this be temporary breathing room for tenants, or perhaps a sign of a broader shift in the rental market? Meanwhile, in the workforce, prime age (24-54 years old) labor force participation has held strong while the overall participation rate has dipped recently, and the labor share of income has trended downward to historic lows. What are these shifting workforce dynamics possibly signaling about our economy? Shifting to