The Employment Fallout From The Housing Bust Could Be Reversing Soon

It's really no secret that a big part of what is making the U.S. economy founder over the past several years is a beleaguered real estate market that was simply crushed when the dust finally settled from the sub-prime mortgage fiasco. Starting in 2006, and getting a truly full head of steam in the autumn of 2008, the real estate market simply tanked. With it, as many are all too aware, went a vast number of jobs.

At first glance, the obvious areas of decline - from an employment perspective - would be among real estate agents, developers, mortgage brokers and bankers, construction workers and other similar positions. Unseen to many, however, is the extreme ripple effect that this has on industries that may be seemingly unrelated to the real estate field. This is where the machinations of the "dismal science" - economics - comes more clearly into focus, though attempting to truly understand all of the interactions between the diverse elements of both the U.S. and the global economy is akin to herding cats. It can be done, but the process is always going to be messy.

Lumber yards, home improvement superstores, trucking companies, tool manufacturers - all of these types of businesses are taking a hit when the real estate market flags and one of the first responses to less-than-stellar profits is to lay off workers. The result is that the depressed real estate market in California may put a lumberjack in Alaska out of work.

More obvious examples exist, of course. In looking at employment trends on one of the larger job search engines, it became clear that positions for land surveyors were plentiful all the way through 2006, but began falling off a bit in 2007. The downward trend really took off in 2008, the year when the sub-prime crisis really came to a head. Since then, the employment market for surveyors has been flat, and only in the first half of 2011 has this started to turn around every so slightly. For those seeking surveyor jobs, however, the news is not all bad. That goes for others in industries ancillary to the real estate market as well.

While there is no promise that 2012 is going to bring a full-fledged economic recovery, economists generally agree that it will be the year when the real estate market finally bottoms out. Even better, there are pockets around the country where the market has held relatively stead or, in the event that the market did drop off significantly, there are now new signs of life. Analysis of Google Trends seems to support the view that jobs will be more plentiful, though there remains a great deal of uncertainty if 2012 itself will bring that relief.

For those who can't wait that long for the employment market in these fields to recover, this is likely of very little comfort, but already we are seeing an uptick in some markets in the U.S., and when the real estate market does start to recover, history suggests that it will come back with a roar, leaving many who have been on the sidelines right back in the thick of a full-scale economic recovery.

By: Matt Blevins

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Matt Blevins is the co-founder of Locate Jobs Network, a nationwide network of niche job boards that serve the needs of both job seekers and recruiters. The network consists of a wide variety of job sites, including Surveyor Jobs, a board dedicated entirely to the land surveying profession.