How much has house lock affected labor mobility and the unemployment rate? by Daniel Aaronson, vice president and economic advisor, and Jonathan Davis, associate economist. “This article explores new evidence from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) on the extent to which “house lock”—the reluctance of households to sell their homes in a declining house price environment—has contributed to the elevated unemployment rate since 2008.”