News in end use

In their latest market report for the 4-week period ending August 28, Redfin is reporting that as the housing market cooldown continues, the average home sold for less than its list price—the first time in over 17-months that selling below list has happened.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 315,000 in August. Nonfarm employment has risen by 5.8 million over the past 12 months. This growth brings total nonfarm employment 240,000 higher than its pre-pandemic level in February 2020.

Statistics Canada reported today that in July, the total value of building permits in Canada dropped 6.6% to $11.2 billion (CAD), mainly due to declines in the residential sector. On a constant dollar basis (2012), the total value of building permits decreased 4.8% to 6.9 billion.

On Thursday, the US Census Bureau reported that total construction spending during July 2022 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $1,777.3 billion, 0.4% below the revised June estimate of $1,784.3 billion.

According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.’s (CG&C) Job Cuts Report released today (9-1-22), US-based employers announced 20.485 job cuts in August. This is a 21% decrease from the 25,810 job cuts announced and reported in July 2022.

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending September 1, 2022. The PMMS reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.66% with an average 0.8 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.55%.

The US Department of Labor is reporting that (seasonally adjusted) an additional 232,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on August 27. This is a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised-lower level of 237,000.

A deeper dive into the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for July reveals that the construction industry had an increase in job openings month-over-month (June–July 2022) of 22,000, which brings the total number of job openings in July to 375,000 jobs.

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) reported today that in Q2 of 2022, real GDP in Canada increased 0.8%. The increase marks the fourth consecutive quarterly Canadian GDP growth. Final domestic demand rose by 0.7% in Q2, following a 0.9% increase in Q1 2022.

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending August 26, the Market Composite Index (a measure of mortgage loan application volume) decreased 3.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.