News in end use

Statistics Canada reported on Monday that the total value of building permits in Canada declined -9.3% in March to a value of $1.7 billion (CAD). The decline was mainly due to the non-residential sector, which was down -29.5% to $3.7 billion. On a constant dollar basis, the total value of building permits was down -11.5% to $7.6 billion in March.

On Monday, Fannie Mae reported its Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) for April. The HPSI was down -4.7 points to a reading of 68.5 in April, its lowest level since May 2020, as consumers expressed growing concerns about housing affordability and rising mortgage rates. All six components of the HPSI were down month-over-month.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has released its latest G.19 Consumer Credit Report (CCR) for Q1 of 2022. According to the CCR, non-real estate secured consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 9.7%, with revolving debt growing at 21.4% and nonrevolving debt at 6.1%.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 428,000 in April, following revised increases of 428,000 in March and 714,000 in February. In the first four months of 2022, nearly 2.1 million jobs were created, and monthly employment grew at an average rate of 519,000 jobs per month.

Statistics Canada reported today its Labor Force Survey for April 2022. Employment in Canada was little changed in April. Previously, employment increased by 409,000 (2.1%) during February and March, following losses in January, the result of the fifth wave of COVID-19. The unemployment rate edged down a further -0.1 percentage points to 5.2%.

According to the latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey (NDS), released today (5-5-22), the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties decreased to a seasonally adjust rate of 4.11% of all loans outstanding at the end of Q1 of 2022.

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending May 5, 2022. The PMMS reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.27% with an average 0.9 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.10%. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.96%.

According to the latest Job Cut Report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas (CG&C), Inc, U.S.-based employers announced 24,286 cuts in April 2022. This is a 14% increase from the 21,387 cuts announced in March 2022, and it is up 6% year-over-year from the 22,913 cuts announced in April 2021.

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 200,000 Americans (seasonally adjusted) made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, April 30, 2022. This is an increase of 19,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The 4-week moving average was 188,000.

According to the latest National Association of Realtors® Quarterly Report, released on Tuesday (5-3-22), Q1 of 2022 saw more markets reach double-digit annual prices gains than in Q4 of 2021. Seventy percent of 185 measured metros experienced such price gains, up from 66% in the previous quarter.