News in end use

The Conference Board released today (8-18-22) the Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for July 2022. According to the report, the LEI declined 0.4% in July, falling to a reading of 116.6 (2016=100). The decrease follows a 0.7% decline in June.

The US Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 250,000 Americans (seasonally adjusted) made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, August 13, 2022. This is a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised-lower level of 252,000.

For the week ending August 17, 2022, the Market Composite Index (a measure of mortgage loan application volume) decreased 2.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index declined 3.0%.

According to the latest the Producer Price Index (PPI) report, the price of building materials increased 0.4% (not seasonally adjusted) in July. Prices have surged 35.7% since January of 2020, with 80% of those increases occurring since January of 2021.

The US Census Bureau reported on Tuesday that privately‐owned housing starts in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 1,446,000. This is 9.6% below the revised June estimate of 1,599,000 and is 8.1% below the July 2021 rate of 1,573,000.

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation announced on Tuesday its trend in housing starts for July 2022. The trend in housing starts in July was 264,426 units, up from 257,862 units in June.

The Canadian Real Estate Association reported that home sales recorded over the Canadian MLS® System decreased from June to July 2022 by 5.3%. This marks the fifth consecutive months of declines, but CREA notes it is smallest drop of the past five months.

Statistics Canada reported today that Canadian Consumer Prices Index rose 7.6% on a year-over-year basis in July, down from an 8.1% gain in June. Most of the decline was the result of a slower year-over-year increase in gasoline pricing.

According to the new monthly Mortgage Bankers Association Loan Monitoring Survey, the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 7 basis points, from 0.81% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior month to 0.74% as of July 31.

Statistics Canada reported on Monday that manufacturing sales in Canada fell 0.8% to $71.8 billion (CAD) in June. This follows a 1.1% decline in May. Lower sales were reported in 8 of 21 industries.