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Each day the Research staff takes a look at recently released economic indicators, addressing what these indicators mean for REALTORS® and their clients. Today’s update discusses March payroll job data.

• Nonfarm payrolls rose by 120,000 in March, below the pace that economists had anticipated. During the past 12 months, the number of jobs has increased by 1.9 million.
• Manufacturing employment increased by 37,000 jobs on the strength in auto manufacturing. Since reaching a low-point in January 2010, factory jobs have increased by 470,000. There were gains in healthcare and professional services as well.
• Retail employment tumbled by 34,000. Not surprisingly, consumers are feeling the pinch of higher gas prices and are cautious about spending.
• Construction jobs fell for the second month, down by 7,000. Overall, construction employment has been flat for nearly 2 years.
• The unemployment rate fell to 8.2%, down one notch from 8.3% in February. There are currently 12.7 million unemployed, of which 5.3 million have been out of work for at least 6 months.
• Although the March jobs numbers are somewhat disappointing, data released earlier this week show that the number of initial unemployment claims continues to fall, which is necessary if the job market is to continue recovering. For this reason, the March employment data may represent a temporary pause and not a change in direction.

Social media networks, such as Twitter, provide a way to connect with your audience and followers, as well as their followers, all within one compact message. You probably spend some time developing quality content for your website and tweeting about it to increase your website traffic. However, do you know how many visitors you really get each time you tweet a URL? What kind of reach do your tweets have and which tweets are most effective?

These are important questions to answer in determining if your tweets are meeting your networking goals. Without website statistics that report the visitors you gain from each tweet, it’s hard to track what Twitter tactics catch your followers’ attention and where you may need to improve. QuickTagger is a free social network tracking application developed by InMotion Hosting that can provide the traffic statistics that you need. Combined with your Google Analytics account, you can tag the URLs that you tweet and track the tags to learn about visitor trends.

QuickTagger Installation

The QuickTagger app is completely browser based and requires no software or downloads to use. Navigate to the QuickTagger web page, click the “QuickTagger” button and drag it to your browser’s quick link bar. This creates a link to the app that allows you to use it with any URL that you visit.

QuickTagger Use

Navigate to the web page you want to tweet about, then click the QuickTagger link in your browser’s link bar. A new window will appear, allowing you to customize your tags based on which social network you want to use and a campaign name. When you click the “Generate URL” button, the app provides you with a long and short URL address that Google Analytics can track based on the campaign tag and sources you enter.

Instead of tweeting the normal URL address for the web page, use the shortened TwURL provided by QuickTagger. When visitors click this link, they will still navigate to the proper website and view your content. However, the URL is tagged to provide statistics that you can view on your Google Analytics account.

Viewing Statistics

Navigate to your Google Analytics account, and choose “Traffic Sources.” When you click “Campaign,” you will see the traffic that Analytics recorded based upon the social network and campaign tag that you typed into the QuickTagger app. By providing an original tag for specific URLs you want to track, you can determine the traffic earned by your tweets for a specific day or over a period of time.

Even though Twitter and other social media networks mostly focus on sharing content, that doesn’t mean you have to tweet blindly into the Internet. Observing trends and discovering which tweets gain the most response will help you to focus to makes the greatest impact with your followers. The QuickTagger app is a free tool that will help you get on the right Twitter track for your website content.

The most expensive Manhattan home to hit the market this week is a 6,800-square-foot penthouse in Tribeca, according to Streeteasy.com. Located in the Merchant’s House at 35 North Moore Street between Varick and Hudson streets, the condominium unit has six bedrooms, four bathrooms and one half bath. As The Real Deal reported this week, this is one of two penthouses in the Mercant’s House currently up for sale. The asking price is $19.95 million, and Raphael De Niro at Prudential Douglas Elliman has the listing.

The second priciest home is an Upper East Side co-op quadruplex penthouse located at 898 Park Avenue at 79th Street. The asking price for the six-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom apartment is $15 million. Square footage was not listed. One of the penthouse’s floors has a wrap-around terrace, according to the listing. Laura Lawrence from the Corcoran Group is marketing the home.

The third most expensive listing is an Upper East Side pre-war co-op located at 1185 Park Avenue between 93rd and 94th streets. As The Real Deal reported, this is the same building where JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon resides. The apartment has seven bedrooms, seven baths and an asking price of $14.98 million. Daniela Kunen at Prudential Douglas Elliman has the listing, which does not denote square footage.

The least expensive apartment this week to premiere on the Manhattan market this week is a two-bedroom, one-bathroom co-op apartment in Hamilton Heights, located at 214 Bradhurst Avenue between 152nd and 153rd streets. The 590-square-foot unit has a washer and dryert, according to the listing. The asking price is $145,000. Patrick Ben Hayoun of Citi Habitats has the listing.

The second cheapest apartment is also located in Hamilton Heights, at 849 Saint Nicholas Avenue between 152nd and 153rd streets. Square footage is not listed, but the apartment, which has an asking price of $155,000, has one bed and one bath. Income restrictions apply. The apartment is listed at Citi Habitats with Lee-Ann Pinder.

The third cheapest Manhattan listing is a studio co-op with an Inwood address of 579 West 215th Street by Seaman Avenue. The apartment has one bathroom and spans 525 square feet. The kitchen is newly renovated, according to the listing, with GE Monogram appliances and a mosaic glass tile floor. Robert Kleinbardt at New Heights Realty has the listing, which has an asking price of $167,500.