Gregory Heym is Chief Economist at Brown Harris Stevens. His weekly series, The Line, covers new developments to the economy, including trends and forecasts. Read on for the latest report and subscribe here to receive The Line in your inbox.

Today, we honor the men and women who died while serving our great nation and share some fascinating data on renters.

Thanks, From a Grateful Nation

Since 1866, Americans have set aside a day to honor those who have died while serving in the U.S. military. There’s no greater sacrifice one can make than to give their life to protect others, so it’s fitting to spend some time each year thinking of them and their service.

Here’s some things you may not have known about Memorial Day, courtesy of the History Channel:

• The official birthplace of Memorial Day is Waterloo, New York, which began the tradition on May 5, 1866.
• It was originally known as Decoration Day.
• In 1868, General John A. Logan called for a national day of remembrance to be celebrated May 30 of each year.
• One hundred years later, Congress passed the Uniform Holiday Act, which made Memorial Day the last Monday in May.
• Memorial Day became a federal holiday in 1971.
• The tradition of wearing a red poppy in remembrance of the fallen began with a poem called "In Flanders Field," which was published in 1915.

No tribute could ever be sufficient to honor those who have perished for our freedom, but it’s great that we can come together as a nation each Memorial Day to remember and thank these great Americans.
 

Everything You Wanted to Know About Renters

Couldn’t fit this in last week’s column, but I thought this data from the Census Bureau’s American Housing Survey was pretty interesting. It looks at renters who moved between 2019 and 2021. Here are the highlights:

• 58.5% found a new place to live in under a month.
• 81.3% of those who moved said they had sufficient time for their search.
• 46.9% only looked at units in one neighborhood, and 64.2% visited just one unit in their chosen neighborhood.
• 46% found their homes on the internet, 39% by word of mouth, and 11% through a rental agency.
• 31.8% of renters said upgrading to a larger or better-quality home was their reason for moving.

You can view the full findings on the Census’s website.

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