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Many Americans are still having difficulty qualifying for home loans or can't afford larger down payments required by banks. Some would-be home buyers are holding off because they fear that home prices could keep falling. The economy added only 80,000 jobs in June. It was the third consecutive month of weak job growth. From April through June, the economy produced an average of just 75,000 jobs a month, the weakest three months since August through October 2010. Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight, said that builders' positive outlook on sales this year isn't at odds with the sharp slowdown in job gains in recent months. "As long as we're adding jobs, I think the housing market is going to continue to improve," Newport said, noting that employers have continued to add jobs, just at a slower pace than earlier in the year. Though new homes represent less than 20 percent of the housing sales market, they have an outsize impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in tax revenue, according to Home Builders' data.
[Associated
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