News in end use

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® for the week ending May 4th. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.39%, up from last week when it averaged 6.43%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year rate averaged 5.27%.

According to the Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Job Cuts Report released Thursday, US-based employers announced 66,995 job cuts in April. This is down 25% from 89,703 announced cuts in March. However, it is up 176% from the 24,286 cuts announced in April 2022.

The US Department of Labor is reporting that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 242,000 during the week ending on Saturday, April 29th. This is an increase of 13,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 229,000.

According to the report, the US national vacancy rate in Q1 was 6.4% for rental housing and 0.8% for homeowner housing. The rental vacancy rate was higher than the rate in 2022Q1, when it was 5.8%, and higher than the 2022Q4 rate, which was also 5.8%.

A closer look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for March with a focus on the construction sector reveals that the construction labor market saw a decline in the number of job openings in March.

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Application Survey for the week ending April 28th, the Market Composite Index decreased 1.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

According to the ADP® National Employment Report™ released Wednesday, nonfarm private sector employment increased by 296,000 jobs in April, and annual pay was up 6.7% year-over-year.

The Canadian Wood Council, an industry association committed to promoting the benefits of using wood in construction and expanding market demand for Canadian wood products, has announced the launch of Woodworks Innovation Network (WIN) in Canada, according to Canadian Forest Industries.

On Tuesday, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) for March. As of the last business day in March, the number and rate of job openings declined to 9.6 million (a loss of 384,000) and 5.8%, respectively.

On Monday, the US Census Bureau reported that total construction spending during March was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $1,834.7 billion, 0.3% above the revised February estimate of $1,829.6 billion. The March figure is 3.8% above the March 2022 estimate of $1,768.2 billion.