Congress Extends Government Funding Through Early March
With funding for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and about 20% of the rest of the government set to expire at midnight on Friday, the House and Senate today approved a short-term spending bill that will keep HUD and a few other government agencies funded through March 1 and about 80% of the rest of the government funded through March 8.
Of note to the housing community, funding for the National Flood Insurance Program will be extended through March 8.
House and Senate leaders have decided on a topline budget for fiscal year 2024 — $1.59 trillion in discretionary spending. The hard work is deciding how to allocate this total figure among the 12 individual spending bills that provide the full-year budget for the federal government.
The continuing resolution to maintain overall spending at fiscal 2023 levels until early March is intended to buy time for lawmakers to pass a set of annual spending bills that will fund the government through fiscal 2024, which ends on Sept. 30, 2024.
As the entire appropriations process moves forward with HUD and other relevant agencies, NAHB will continue to monitor developments closely and weigh in as appropriate.
Latest from NAHBNow
Construction job openings declined in August. However, strength in certain subsectors like data center construction (up 46% year over year) is creating demand for construction workers.
NAHB’s Economics team is measuring how elevated costs across the residential construction industry impact the cost to build single-family homes. And we need your help.
Latest Economic News
The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge remained elevated in August, complicating the Fed’s path to its 2% target. Core PCE held at 3.0% year-over-year for the third consecutive month. Though the reading came in lower than expected, it’s not necessarily a sign of disinflation.
Consumer confidence in September plunged to the lowest level since April 2014 as consumers grew more pessimistic about current conditions and the economic outlook.
The number of open positions in the construction sector fell back in August per the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The current level of open jobs is down from three years ago due to declines in construction activity, particularly in housing.