Will Rate Cuts and Rising Unemployment Lower Rent?

Wait, Shelter drives a third of inflation. So why aren’t rents falling fast?

Wait, shelter drives a third of inflation. So why aren’t rents falling fast? It’s the question I keep getting over coffee (and yes, sometimes over a stressed landlord’s spreadsheet). Rate cuts are on the table, unemployment has nudged up this year, and yet, rents don’t just drop on command. They rarely do. Here’s the counterintuitive bit: rent inflation inside the CPI isn’t your leasing office’s price sheet, it’s a slow-moving average of what millions of people are already paying.

Surprising stat: The Bureau of Labor Statistics weighted shelter at about 36% of the U.S. CPI basket in 2024. That’s massive. But market rents can turn months before CPI shows it, because the CPI’s shelter components (Owners’ Equivalent Rent and Rent of Primary Residence) update unit by unit, often semiannually, and then get averaged in.

So, do lower rates and a softer labor market drag rents down? Eventually, sometimes. But not in a straight line and not at the same time everywhere. Most renters are on 12-month leases. Pricing resets happen when you move or renew, not when the Fed hints at a cut. That alone builds in a lag. Private rent indexes (think Zillow’s ZORI or Apartment List) can reflect new-lease pricing in near-real time, while CPI shelter tends to trail by 6-12 months. In late 2023 and early 2024, several private measures cooled or even dipped in parts of the Sun Belt, yet CPI shelter stayed hot into mid-2024 because it was still catching up to prior gains. That mismatch wasn’t a data error, it was plumbing.

And this part matters more than the headlines admit: your rent follows your neighborhood’s vacancy and new supply, not a national average. Austin and Phoenix absorbed a wave of new multifamily supply from projects that broke ground during 2021-2022. That surge hit completions heavily in 2024, pressuring new-lease rents in those submarkets. Meanwhile, New York and Boston, with tighter land and slower permitting, didn’t get the same relief; vacancy stayed lean, so renewals held firm. National story? Meh. It’s mostly a local chessboard with different clocks.

Quick reality check, why the CPI lag again? Because CPI surveys the same units over time and folds in changes gradually. Owners’ Equivalent Rent, which alone carried a weight north of a quarter of CPI in 2024, is about what homeowners would pay to rent their homes. That’s inherently smoothed. Great for stability, terrible if you’re trying to time the exact month rent inflation “breaks.” I almost wrote that it makes CPI “wrong”, it doesn’t. It’s answering a different question: what are people paying on average right now, not what the newest listings are asking.

So, what will you actually get from this section? Three things you can use: (1) how shelter’s oversized weight keeps headline inflation sticky even when asking rents cool; (2) how lease mechanics and the 6-12 month measurement lag create that awkward disconnect between your Zillow alerts and the CPI print; and (3) how to read your local market, vacancy, concessions, and deliveries, so you can tell whether your next renewal is likely to bite or blink. Oh, and I’ll circle back to why a rate cut won’t save you mid-lease. It can help on the margin, but not the way people hope. I know, not the most exciting ending… actually wait, this part is fun: once concessions pop (free months, parking), that’s your early tell that the CPI shelter downshift is coming. Just not this minute.

Rate cuts 101: cheaper money, but does that mean cheaper rent?

Short answer: not automatically. Cheaper money changes a lot of plumbing in the housing market, but rent is set in a very human place, vacancies, lease-up speed, and how many would-be buyers stick around as renters. And the details matter. A lot.

Here’s the clean way to think about the different “rates” people mush together when they say rate cuts will make rent drop:

• Policy rates (the Fed funds rate): This is the overnight rate banks charge each other. In 2024, the target range sat at 5.25%-5.50% for most of the year. When the Fed trims it, funding costs across the system usually edge down. But leases don’t reprice overnight.
• Mortgage rates (your 30-year fixed): These follow long-term Treasury yields plus a spread. They’re related to the Fed, but not tethered. For context, the 30-year fixed peaked around 7.8% in October 2023 (Freddie Mac PMMS) and averaged near the high-6% range through 2024. If mortgage rates fall 100 bps, monthly payments on a typical loan drop roughly 8-12%, that can pull some renters into buying, easing rent pressure at the margin.
• Cap rates (investor yields on property): When borrowing costs fall, cap rates often compress. Industry data showed U.S. apartment cap rates rose roughly 100-150 bps from 2021 to 2023 as rates climbed, then stabilized in 2024. If they compress on cuts, asset values hold up even if rent growth cools, fewer distressed sales, which otherwise can push effective rents lower via fire-sale concessions.
• Developer financing (construction loans): These are usually floating, tied to SOFR plus a spread. With SOFR stuck around ~5% in 2024, construction was expensive. Rate cuts lower carry costs and can revive projects, but with a 18-30 month lag before those units hit the market.

So what’s the rent impact? Mixed. Lower policy rates reduce financing costs for landlords and developers. That can keep some owners from slashing rents just to meet debt service. But lower rates also buoy housing demand, more household formation, easier qualifying, a bit of “animal spirits.” In a tight market with low vacancy, that demand support often offsets any downward pressure from cheaper financing.

Evidence on the buy-versus-rent margin is real. When mortgage rates retreat, a slice of renters exits into ownership. In late 2023 to 2024, as 30-year rates came off their peak, we saw some relief at the edges in for-rent single-family markets. It wasn’t a flood, more like a trickle, but it helped. Meanwhile, national multifamily vacancy hovered around the mid-6% range in 2024 (Apartment List tracked ~6-7%), which meant landlords still had pricing power in many metros even as asking-rent growth cooled.

On supply, 2024 delivered a wave: over 400,000 new apartments came online nationally, the highest since the 1980s, per industry estimates (CoStar/MLS aggregates). That supply burst did exactly what textbooks promise: pushed up concessions and flattened rents in high-delivery Sun Belt markets. But here’s the catch, rate cuts can keep more projects penciling, which supports future supply but not immediately. The timing mismatch is the story.

And cap rates, this is nerdy but important. When the Fed eases and the 10-year Treasury drifts lower, cap rates usually follow with a lag. That supports apartment values even if rent growth slows. With values holding, lenders feel better, extensions get negotiated, and the pressure to dump buildings (and slash rents to hold occupancy at any cost) eases. It’s counterintuitive, but cheaper money can actually keep rents stickier in the near term because it reduces forced selling.

Two practical takeaways if you’re renting right now:

• If mortgage rates fall later this year and into early next, expect a bit less competition for rentals on the margin as some households buy, especially in suburbs and SFR rentals. Not everywhere, but some.
• If your market’s vacancy is still sub-5% and deliveries are thin, a rate cut ain’t likely to move your renewal much. Watch concessions, not headlines.

My take: Cuts help the plumbing, lower carry, healthier balance sheets, calmer lenders. But unless vacancy rises or supply keeps arriving, they don’t magically cheapen rent. In tight markets, they can even support rents by preventing distress. Annoying answer, I know, but it’s the honest one.

One last note on unemployment, since I got asked: rising joblessness can pressure rents down, fewer households, more doubling up. But barring a sharp jump, the rate-cut channel alone is mixed. It helps costs and demand at the same time. Messy, but that’s housing.

Jobs drive leases: how unemployment hits demand with a 6-12 month lag

Quick reality check: rent growth is about heads on pillows. When jobs are lost, new household formation slows and doubling-up rises. You see it in the lease file, not the headline. Does that hit immediately? No. It usually shows up with a lag, think two or three quarters, because people try to ride out a rough patch before moving, and owners adjust rents gradually as expirations roll through.

Mechanically, here’s how it tends to work, sorry, I almost said “demand elasticity,” which is a bit jargony. What I mean is the step-by-step:

• Layoffs or slower hiring → fewer new leases from graduating students, relocations, and roommate breakups.
• Existing renters facing income hits renew more often, but they trade down on size or location, or they add a roommate.
• Vacancies edge up, concessions reappear first, then effective rents soften. Asking rents move later if operators resist cutting face rents.
• Lease data leads official inflation measures. CPI shelter tends to catch up with 9-12 months of lag as older leases roll off.

We have clear anchors for timing. In April 2020, U.S. unemployment spiked to 14.7% (BLS). Major coastal markets, San Francisco, Manhattan, Boston, saw sharp, temporary rent drops later that year as young renters went home and remote work emptied pricey studios. The velocity was unique to lockdowns, but the sequence holds: jobs shock, then household contraction, then rent pressure. Go back another cycle: in the late-2000s downturn, U.S. rental vacancy approached roughly 11% in 2009 (Census), and that inventory slack pressured rents, especially in oversupplied Sun Belt submarkets. Different causes, same playbook.

How much lag should you pencil now? I’d use the familiar 6-12 months. CPI shelter famously lagged market-rent declines by roughly 9-12 months in 2022-2023 (Fed and private data studies). That was a clean natural experiment: private-market indices turned down in mid-2022; CPI shelter kept running hot until mid/late-2023. I mention that not to re-litigate inflation, but to set expectations, if layoffs pick up this fall, rent comps feel it into mid-2026, not next Tuesday.

Do we need a surge in unemployment to see softening? Not necessarily. A modest rise, say 1 to 2 percentage points over a few quarters, usually slows new household formation at the margin. You see roommate ads tick up, mom-and-dad move-ins, and longer stays in multifamily with more people per unit. That’s the “doubling-up” channel. It doesn’t break the market, but it takes the froth off. I’ve watched owners miss budget by 50-100 bps on occupancy just from that micro-behavior.

Where does this bite most right now? Two places: (1) lease-up corridors already fighting new supply, and (2) expensive, downtown Class A where roommate math can swing quickly. If you’re Phoenix/Austin/Atlanta with 2024-2025 deliveries still getting absorbed, higher joblessness snips the demand tailwind just as concessions were finally rolling off. If you’re a coastal CBD, a tech or finance downsizing can turn 1-bedrooms into 2-roommate units, which flattens achievable rent per door even if traffic looks fine on paper.

And to circle back to the rate cut point from earlier, because I realized I might’ve muddled it, lower rates help owners’ interest expense and debt service, which keeps more product out of distress. That supports rents on the supply side. But if unemployment rises, the demand side softens with that 6-12 month lag. So you can get this odd mix: steadier owners, but cooler rent growth. Both can be true at once. I know, messy.

What should operators and investors actually do with this?

• Watch leading indicators: job postings, initial claims, and your own app-to-lease conversion. Your pipeline will tell you before CPI does.
• Budget for effective rent pressure first, concessions come back before face rents cut. Track net effective per occupied unit, not just asking.
• Adjust bedroom mix marketing. When doubling-up rises, 2-bedrooms hold better than studios on an NOI basis at the right price point.
• Extend expirations strategically. If you expect a Q2 softness window, push renewals into Q3 where seasonal demand can help. Small stuff, but it adds up.

Final nuance I don’t want to overstate: this is not a 2020 replay. There’s no forced vacancy event in sight. If unemployment drifts higher from here without a shock, expect softer rent growth and a bit more vacancy, not a crash. The 2009 vacancy near ~11% was a different capital and construction backdrop. Today’s choke points are localized, some Sun Belt lease-ups and a few urban cores, while plenty of suburbs with sub-5% vacancy can still defend pricing with mild concessions. That’s the read I’m carrying into Q4 leasing and 2026 budgets.

Bottom line: Jobs are the demand engine. When that engine stutters, leases feel it 6-12 months later, first in concessions, then in effective rent, then in CPI. Plan for the lag, and don’t mistake a steady headline for steady traffic.

Supply is the silent boss: completions, conversions, and local vacancy

Here’s the unglamorous truth for 2025: supply is calling the shots in a lot of metros, especially across the Sun Belt. The macro stuff matters, rates, payrolls, CPI, but when 400 new doors open across the street with eight weeks free, your pricing model will blink first. We’ve been saying “watch the pipeline” for two years; this is the year the pipeline is watching you.

Start with the scale. According to the U.S. Census, multifamily units under construction topped roughly 1 million in 2023, a multi-decade high and the most since the 1970s. That wave didn’t evaporate. It’s been converting into elevated completions through 2024 and into 2025, very visibly in Austin, Dallas, Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, Tampa, and a few Mountain West spots. That’s the primary lever on rent right now. You can debate a 25-50 bps Fed move on the margin; it won’t offset five Class A lease-ups hitting a 3-mile radius, each chasing absorption with concessions.

Two quick realities that keep getting glossed over:

• Conversions help, but they’re not a fire hose. Office-to-resi is real, but slow and costly. Structural retrofits, life-safety, window lines, plumbing stacks, it’s all expensive, especially with today’s labor and materials. Even with headlines, the national conversions pipeline is a rounding error next to that 2023 construction peak. Conversions ease the bite in select downtowns, not the suburban Sun Belt where most new supply is landing.
• Insurance and construction costs still sting. Builder’s risk and property insurance have surged since 2022 in coastal and hail-prone states, keeping some projects on ice and squeezing P&Ls on delivered assets. Construction inputs aren’t at 2021-2022 peaks, but they haven’t “gone cheap” either. Net: fewer new starts, yes, but the 2023-2024 starts already in the ground are what’s hitting rent rolls right now.

What do you actually watch week to week? Your submarket’s vacancy and concessions. A two-percentage-point vacancy swing locally, say 6% to 8%, can matter more for effective rent than a 50 bps move from the Fed. That jump can turn $0 concessions into 6-8 weeks free on new leases, which pulls headline rent flat and pushes effective rent negative. I know that sounds oversimplified, asset quality, school districts, commuter times all matter, but in lease-up skirmishes the math is blunt.

Where this bites hardest: Sun Belt nodes with back-to-back deliveries. We’re seeing A-to-A competition push renewals into modest cuts or heavier retention offers; B assets defend with small rent trims and better maintenance response times (yes, service speed is a lever). Meanwhile, suburbs with sub-5% vacancy still hold rate with only token concessions. Same national economy, totally different local outcomes.

Final note because I can feel this getting a bit wonky: zoning, inspections, and lender behavior can bend timelines, but the deliveries that were poured in 2023 are still coming this year. Choose your comps carefully, track the active concession sheet, and don’t let a clean national headline fool you about what’s happening inside a 10-minute drive-time. On my desk, supply is the boss in 2025; everything else is supportive cast.

Rule of thumb: If vacancy in your submarket is drifting up 150-250 bps and there are two more certificates of occupancy landing by year-end, plan concessions first, not last. The Census construction peak in 2023 is echoing through 2025; price like you heard it.

Money moves: what rent dynamics mean for budgets, mortgages, and REITs

Okay, brass tacks time. The supply wave we talked about isn’t a headline problem; it’s a planning input. The Census Bureau showed multifamily units under construction hitting roughly 1.0 million in 2023 (a record since the series started). RealPage tallied about 441,000 apartment completions in 2024, and as of mid-2025 they’ve said deliveries are tracking toward ~500,000 for the full year. Do those numbers matter to your wallet? Yes. They show when concessions and vacancies are likely to pinch in specific submarkets, especially the urban nodes and the fast-build corridors in the Sun Belt.

Rates and unemployment are the other swing factors people ask me about. Will the Fed’s cuts and a softer labor market push rents down? Locally, yes where supply is thick; nationally, it’s more mixed. The BLS shelter index has been cooling from the 2023-2024 pace, but it’s still sticky enough that you need to negotiate, not wait. And unemployment has drifted into the low-4% range this year (from high-3s last year), which usually tempers demand at the margin. My take: supply is still the boss in 2025; rates/jobs are the supporting actors.

Renters (Q4 2025 checklist)

• Time renewals with deliveries: Ask your leasing office two simple questions: what’s your current occupancy and how many new buildings are opening within a 10-15 minute drive by year-end? If occupancy has slipped 150-250 bps from spring and there are two+ certificates of occupancy coming, you’re in the power seat.
• Negotiate concessions, not just rate: In high-supply ZIPs, I’m seeing 4-8 weeks free, parking credits, and reduced amenity fees. If they won’t move on monthly rent, push for upfront free months and parking. Pro tip: ask for renewal concessions to match the new-lease sheet. It’s awkward; it also works.
• Run the all-in number: Compare your effective rent (after free months) to nearby comps with the same math. A lot of folks forget to amortize the free month across 12, don’t leave money on the table.

Prospective buyers

• Re-run buy vs. rent if mortgage rates slip again later this year: 30-year rates are off their 2024 highs by roughly 50-100 bps in many quotes. If we get another step down after the next Fed meeting, refresh the math the same day.
• Total cost, not just the rate: Price, points, taxes, insurance (watch wind/hail in the Sun Belt), HOA, and maintenance. Include a 1-1.5% of home value annual upkeep placeholder.
• Stress test the payment: Target a PITI that survives a 1-2 point higher rate scenario on a refinance fail. If that number doesn’t pass your gut check, don’t lock. I know that sounds boring, I also like sleeping at night.
• Shop builders against landlords: In high-delivery markets, builders are still buying down rates. Put that side-by-side with a 12-month lease with 8 weeks free; compare monthly equivalence after incentives.

Landlords

• Expect softer lease-up in thick-supply corridors: If your submarket vacancy is drifting up and two new assets are going live by December, plan concessions first, not last. Front-load the offer; shorten time-to-lease. Don’t defend a pro forma that was written in 2022.
• Retention over top-line: Offer early-renewal credits, minor upgrades, and faster service-level commitments. I’ve literally watched a 24-hour maintenance response promise cut move-outs, service speed is a lever.
• Watch your effective rent math: Track net effective rent after giveaways, not just face rents. Weekly scorecards, not monthly, the market is too fluid.

Investors

• Multifamily REITs with Sun Belt exposure: Good assets, but 2023-2025 supply is still rolling through. Watch for rent roll-down risk on renewal cohorts signed at 2021-2022 peaks. If same-store revenue growth fades while operating costs (insurance, payroll) stay sticky, funds from operations gets pinched.
• Cap rates vs. NOI trajectory will drive returns: If the 10-year drifts lower into year-end and cap rates compress a little, but 2025-2026 NOI growth slows because of concessions, you can end up flat-to-meh total returns. I’d rather own balance sheets with dry powder and markets with <5% vacancy than chase headline yield.
• Credit where it’s due: 2024 saw REITs use ATM programs to shore up liquidity and sell non-core. Stick with names that did the housekeeping.

Quick rule: If your underwriting needs 5% same-store rent growth in 2026 to pencil, you’re not buying an asset, you’re buying hope. Pencil 2-3% and see if the IRR still works.

One last bit, and I say this as someone who’s made this mistake: don’t anchor on national averages. Your mileage in Jacksonville vs. Jersey City is wildly different right now. If I’ve misremembered the exact RealPage completion figure by a hair, might’ve been 440k-ish in 2024, the direction is still the call: supply is here, and you should trade around it.

Your next lease isn’t a spectator sport

Alright, here’s where the rubber hits the rent roll. If you ignore the lag, local vacancy, and your timing window, you’re setting yourself up to overpay next year. And not by a latte or two, by real dollars every month. I’ve done it personally, moved in a rush, didn’t check comps, signed a “meh” renewal, paid $180 more than a comparable stack three floors down. Annoying, and entirely avoidable.

What to track now (because these beat national averages every time):

• Submarket vacancy: Your neighborhood, not the U.S. average. RealPage estimated roughly 440k market-rate apartments delivered in 2024, which kept vacancy elevated in a lot of Sun Belt and Mountain submarkets. That supply is still washing through leases this year.
• New deliveries and lease-up maps: If a new building two blocks away is in lease-up, they’ll use discounts to hit occupancy. That can anchor your negotiation better than any national index.
• Concessions: Track months free, gift cards, parking credits. Those translate into effective rent, not just headline price. In my notes from last fall, concessions expanded fastest right where cranes were thickest, no surprise.
• Your renewal window: Most landlords lock terms 60-120 days before expiry. Miss that window and you’re negotiating against posted rates, not a manager’s quarterly occupancy target.

Expect lags, and use them

Rents don’t move the day rates or jobs move. They lag. Historically, when unemployment jumps, rent pressure shows up months later as leases roll. As a reference point, the unemployment rate rose from 5.0% in 2007 to 10.0% in October 2009 (BLS), while effective apartment rents fell in 2009 by roughly 3% at the national level (REIS data from that period). Not saying we’re replaying that movie, just that lease economics show up with a delay. Same with rate cuts: a cut today takes quarters to filter through cap rates, construction pipelines, and owner pricing behavior. Translation, plan ahead, not the week your renewal email hits.

The 2025 inertia tax

If you don’t shop comps, don’t negotiate, don’t time your move, you’ll pay it. Call it the 2025 inertia tax: higher monthly rent for the same unit. Two quick math checks:

1. If your building bumps renewals 4% in January 2025 and a nearby lease-up is quietly offering one month free on a 12-month term, your effective rent could be ~8% lower across the street. On a $2,200 ask, that’s about $176/month in missed savings.
2. Even a modest 2% gap because you renewed outside the manager’s push period is ~$44/month. Over 12 months, you’re tipping $528 to inertia.

How to act in Q4 2025

• Time the ask: Start 90-120 days before expiry. Q4 can be friendlier in colder markets; Q2 is usually tighter with peak moves.
• Lead with effective rent: Bring concession-adjusted comps, not just sticker prices. Managers know the math; show that you do too.
• Use supply to your advantage: Point to nearby 2024-2025 deliveries still burning concessions. If your building wants to keep occupancy steady into winter, that’s your use.
• Be willing to move a floor, or a block: Same brand, different stack can save real money if your current line is oversubscribed.

My take, this isn’t about outsmarting the market; it’s about not letting the calendar outsmart you. Track your submarket, respect the lag, and give yourself enough runway to negotiate. Sit back and wait, and you’ll pay the inertia tax, every single month in 2025.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Should I worry about my rent going up if rate cuts stall and unemployment ticks higher?

A: Short answer: not immediately. Most rents reset at renewal, and local vacancy/supply matters more than a Fed headline. Check your submarket: if vacancies are rising and buildings nearby are offering 1-2 months free, you’ve got use. If your renewal is 60-90 days out, start asking about concessions now. Worst case, line up comps and politely push back, works more often than you’d think.

Q: How do I decide when to negotiate my lease using CPI vs private rent indexes?

A: Treat CPI shelter like a rearview mirror and private indexes (Zillow, Apartment List) like a live traffic app. CPI’s shelter components lag by roughly 6-12 months; private data moves with new-lease pricing. If private measures are flat/down in your city this fall, you can use those prints in renewal talks now rather than waiting for CPI to “confirm” it later. Bring three local comps, note concessions, and ask for either a lower base or a free-month credit. I also calendar my outreach 75 days before expiration, earlier conversations = more inventory and better odds your landlord trades price for certainty.

Q: What’s the difference between CPI shelter, Owners’ Equivalent Rent, and what my landlord actually charges me?

A: CPI shelter is a big inflation bucket the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses to measure housing costs. In 2024 it was about 36% of CPI, huge, but it’s built from unit-by-unit surveys that update infrequently. Inside that, “Rent of Primary Residence” tracks tenants’ paid rents, while “Owners’ Equivalent Rent” estimates the rent owner-occupiers would pay for their own homes. Your landlord, meanwhile, prices off today’s local supply, demand, and vacancies. That’s why private rent indexes can cool months before CPI shows it; CPI is catching up to older leases. So for budgeting and negotiation, rely on current local comps first, CPI second.

Q: Is it better to sign a 12‑month lease or lock in 15-18 months given talk of rate cuts and softer hiring this year?

A: It depends on your local market and your risk tolerance. Here’s how I frame it with clients (and honestly what I do myself):

• If you’re in a high‑supply Sun Belt submarket (Austin, Phoenix, parts of Atlanta) where 2024-2025 completions are still hitting, a 12‑month term keeps you flexible. Vacancies there are elevated, concessions are common, and new deliveries could pressure rents further. Flexibility lets you re-shop in 6-12 months if pricing softens.
• If you’re in a tight, high‑demand market (NYC core neighborhoods, parts of Boston or SoCal) with limited new supply, locking 15-18 months can cap your risk. Even if macro data softens, tight inventory can keep rents sticky. Ask for a rate cap on the second year or an addendum that carries concessions (e.g., 1 free month) across the entire term.
• Cash‑flow rule of thumb: keep rent ≤30% of gross pay and preserve 3 months’ expenses in cash. If job stability feels wobbly, prioritize shorter term + lower upfront cash burn over chasing a tiny monthly discount.
• Negotiate structure, not just price: push for free months (amortized to cut your effective rent), flexible start dates, or minor improvements. In Q4, landlords value certainty, use that.

Net-net: in softening, supply-heavy areas, go 12 months and stay nimble. In tight, supply-constrained areas where moving costs are high, a longer term with concessions or a cap is often the better financial trade.

@article{will-rate-cuts-and-rising-unemployment-lower-rent,
    title   = {Will Rate Cuts and Rising Unemployment Lower Rent?},
    author  = {Beeri Sparks},
    year    = {2025},
    journal = {Bankpointe},
    url     = {https://bankpointe.com/articles/rate-cuts-unemployment-rent/}
}