U.S. labor market booms in April, adding 253,000 jobs

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1. U.S. labor market booms in April, adding 253,000 jobs

The labor market added 253,000 jobs in April, surpassing expectations. The unemployment rate dipped to 3.4% — a historically low, while wage growth increased by 4.4% year-over-year, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The April job figures are a pickup from the 165,000 jobs added in March, which were revised down by 71,000, the Labor Department said on Friday. But despite the downward revisions of job growth in prior months, the labor market remains strong.

With the resiliency of the job market and the continued wage growth, experts believe the Federal Reserve may not be done hiking interest rates just yet.

The construction sector added 15,000 jobs, while the real estate, rental, and leasing sectors gained 9,800 jobs. The majority of job growth came from the professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, social assistance, and healthcare sectors.

A MESSAGE FROM WEMLO

Don’t Play Shuffle with Your Business.
Know What’s in The Queue with wemlo®.

Variety isn’t always the spice of life, especially when it comes to third-party processing support.

At wemlo, we’re all about consistency. Brokers can expect the same service and experience from the same team with every loan submitted.

Learn how wemlo’s consistent approach can benefit your mortgage business today.

2. FHFA defends LLPA changes

Michael Shemi, the principal advisor for FHFA’s Division of Housing and Mission Goals, discussed recent pricing changes in an interview on the HW podcast. He acknowledged criticism of the changes, but clarified that the old framework was outdated and needed review.

Shemi said these changes aim to improve capital adequacy and prevent future taxpayer-funded rescues while maintaining Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's ability to support homeownership.

He also addressed the response to the Debt-to-Income (DTI) component and political headwinds, noting that while the FHFA remains sympathetic to the expressed industry concerns, the updated pricing framework more actively integrates income thresholds in fees.

You can listen to the full interview here.

3. More Nuggets

💼 California panel approves preliminary $500 billion reparations package for Black residents, addressing historical racist policies, such as redlining by banks that blocked them from getting a mortgage. (NYTimes)

👨‍💼 Majority of nonbank mortgage job cuts may be over with. The latest monthly payroll estimates show mortgage bankers and third-party originators have made a lot of headway in downsizing to bring staffing in line with current business volumes. (NMN)

💳 Outside interests: For every credit card reward you know and love; lounge access, hotel elite status, travel insurance, free checked bags—there’s likely another one hiding in the fine print of your cardholder agreement. (Find them here)

4. Zillow, Redfin integrate ChatGPT

Real estate platforms Zillow and Redfin have integrated ChatGPT plugins to help homebuyers find suitable properties more efficiently. Developed by OpenAI, the plugins allow users to input desired property characteristics, and the AI responds with a list of potential matches from the respective databases. Demo here.

Zillow has used AI since 2006 and sees generative AI as a game-changer for property searches. Both companies join Big Purple Dot in adopting ChatGPT technology. However, regulators have raised concerns over potential biases and fair housing law violations in AI tools, prompting the Biden administration to release guidelines for AI development to mitigate risks.

5. UWM's Ishbia calls out Rocket's Gilbert

Mat Ishbia, CEO of UWM, candidly shared his feelings about Dan Gilbert, founder of Rocket Companies, during an interview on The Bill Simmons podcast. The rivalry between UWM and Rocket Mortgage intensified after UWM became the nation's top lender.

• Ishbia stated, "He doesn’t like me and I don’t like him. That’s how it is." He added, "I don’t like the way they do business in a lot of things. He probably doesn't like the way we do things. We’re in the same town. We compete. We’re winning." 

Ishbia commented on Gilbert abstaining from a vote to approve his acquisition of the Phoenix Suns, saying, "Now you see who I see and what I know about that man."

UWM surged past Rocket Mortgage as the nation’s top lender, in part due to its controversial "ultimatum." The ultimatum told independent mortgage brokers that if they wanted to continue doing business with UWM, they had to stop doing business with Rocket and Fairway Independent Mortgage.

A MESSAGE FROM WEMLO

Don’t Play Shuffle with Your Business.
Know What’s in The Queue with wemlo®.

Variety isn’t always the spice of life, especially when it comes to third-party processing support.

At wemlo, we’re all about consistency. Brokers can expect the same service and experience from the same team with every loan submitted.

Learn how wemlo’s consistent approach can benefit your mortgage business today.

☀️ See you on Wednesday!

p.s Feel free to stop reading now; the extras below are some of my favorite quotes from the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.

Warren Buffett

On debt: You should just spend a little bit less than you earn. If you spend a little bit more than you earn, then you've got debt, and the chances are you'll never get out of debt. ‘I'll make an exception in terms of a mortgage on your house’.

On living your best life: You should write your obituary and try and figure out how to live up to it. It’s not that complicated.

On kindness: I've never known anybody that was basically kind that died without friends, and I've known plenty of people with money who died without friends - including their family

Charlie Munger

On how to succeed: Well it's so simple: you spend less than you earn, and invest shrewdly, and avoid toxic people and toxic activities, and try and keep learning all your life, etc. And do a lot of deferred gratification because you prefer life that way. And if you do all those things you are almost certain to succeed. And if you don't, you're going to need a lot of luck, a lot of luck - and you don't want to need a lot of luck: you want to go into a game where you're very likely to win without having any unusual luck

On toxic people: The toxic people who are trying to fool you, lie to you, or aren't reliable meeting their commitments: a great lesson of life is to get them out of your life. And do it fast! Do it fast.

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