News in end use

The Conference Board released Thursday its Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the US in March. The LEI declined 1.2% to a reading of 108.4 (2016=100) after posting a decline of 0.5% in February. The LEI has dropped 4.5% over the six-month period from September 2022 to March.

The US Department of Labor is reporting that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 245,000 during the week ending on Saturday, April 15th. This is an increase of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 240,000.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is reporting that data from its Builder Application Survey (BAS) reveal mortgage applications for new home purchases increased 10% month-over-month in March and were up 0.6% year-over-year. This change does not include any adjustments for typical seasonal patterns.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported Wednesday that the standalone monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada declined 11% in March to 213,865 units, compared to February’s 240,927 units.

Statistics Canada reported Wednesday that prices of products manufactured in Canada, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), inched up 0.1% month-over-month in March, following a 0.6% decline in February. Year-over-year, the IPPI was down 1.8%.

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Application Survey for the ending April 14th, the Market Composite Index—a measure of mortgage loan application volume—decreased 8.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

The US Census Bureau on Tuesday reported that privately‐owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,420,000. This is 0.8% below the revised February estimate of 1,432,000 and 17.2% below the March 2022 rate of 1,716,000.

Statistics Canada reported Tuesday that the Canadian Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 4.3% year-over-year in March, following a 5.2% increase in February. This was the smallest increase since August 2021 when it was 4.1%.

On Monday, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index reported that builder sentiment in the market for newly built single-family homes increased 1 point in April to a reading of 45—the fourth consecutive month of gains.

Redfin reported that for the four-week period ending on Sunday, April 9th, new listings of US homes for sale dropped 25% year-over-year. This continues an eight consecutive month streak of double-digit declines of new home listings.