News in end use

The National Federation of Independent Business reported on Tuesday its NFIB Small Business Optimism Index (SBOI) for February. According to the report, the February SBOI increased 0.6 points to a reading of 90.9—the fourteenth consecutive month that the SBOI has been below the 49-year average reading of 98.

A closer look at the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Nonfarm Payroll Report for January reveals 40 states reported an increase in January when compared to December 2022. Conversely, 7 states reported jobs sector losses. Mississippi remained unchanged.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 311,000 in February, compared with an average monthly gain of 343,000 over the prior 6 months. The unemployment rate increased to 3.6% in February.

Redfin reported on Friday that the median US asking rent increased 1.7% year-over-year to $1,937 in February. This marks the smallest increase in nearly 24 months and the lowest level in a year. A year earlier, rents were up nearly 10 times that much: 16.5%.

Statistics Canada reported today that in February employment increased by 22,000, or 0.1%. This follows two consecutive monthly gains. Employment has trended upward since September 2022, and there were 348,000, or 1.8%, more employed persons in Canada in February than in August 2022.

According to the Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Job Cuts Report released today, US-based employers announced 77,770 job cuts in February, down 24% from the 102,943 announced job cuts in January. However, this is 410% higher than a year ago.

A closer look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for January reveals that the construction labor market experienced a substantial decline in job openings in January as the housing market slowed.

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® for the week ending March 9th. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.73%, up from last week when it averaged 6.65%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year rate averaged 3.85%.

The US Department of Labor is reporting that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 211,000 during the week ending on Saturday, March 4th. This is an increase of 21,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 190,000.

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the ending March 3rd, the Market Composite Index (a measure of mortgage loan application volume) increased 7.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 9.0%.