Do you all know how these numbers account for Realtor job loses? I doubt they figure in anything except the very few wage earning w-2 office people. Realtors don’t get laid off or anything they just fade away. I don’t know if independent mortage brokers would figure in or not. The same for licensed(and unlicensed) contractors . When there is less work a contractor doesn’t weigh in on these statistics they just work and earn much less and say “adios” to lots of cash paid labor as well . Do these types of things get figured into the weakening of the job market? It certainly affects the economy in a big way, especially after a major housing boom and national fixation with “house beautiful.”