The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today (2-4-22) that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 467,000 in January. Nonfarm payroll employment has increased by 19.1 million since April 2020 but is down by -2.9 million, or -1.9%, from its pre-pandemic level in February 2020.
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30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate Flat, but 15-Year Fixed Rate Slightly Lower in Week Ending February 3, 2022
Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending February 3, 2022. The PMMS reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.55% with an average 0.8 point, unchanged from last week. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.73%.
Weekly Jobless Claims Decline for Second Consecutive Week in the Week Ending January 29, 2022
The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 238,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, January 29, 2022. This is a decrease of 23,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The 4-week moving average was 255,000.
U.S.-Based Employers Job Cut Report Little Changed Month-Over-Month in January 2022
According to the latest Job Cut Report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas (CG&C), Inc, a global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm, job cuts announced by US-based employers in January 2022 were almost identical to the December 2021 levels. January’s job cuts were 19,064 — up 0.063% from December’s 19,052.
Canadian Building Permits Decline in December
Statistics Canada (StatsCan) reported today (2-2-22) that the total value of building permits decreased -1.9% to $11.2 billion (CAD) in December. Declines were reported in both the residential and non-residential sectors. On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), the total value of building permits decreased -3.1%.
Residential Vacancies and Homeownership Statistics Released for Q4 2021
The national vacancy rates in Q4 2021 were 5.6% for rental housing and 0.9% for homeowner housing. The rental vacancy rate was -0.9 percentage points lower than the rate in Q4 2020 of 6.5% and not statistically different from the rate in the Q3 2021 of 5.8%. The homeowner vacancy rate of 0.9% was -0.1 percentage points lower than the rate in Q4 2020 of 1.0% and was the same as the rate in Q3 2021, 0.9%.
Mortgage Applications Increase in the Week Ending January 28, 2022
According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey (WMAS), for the week ending January 28, 2022, the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 12.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.
ADP Reports Private Sector Employment Experienced a Setback in January
According to the January ADP® National Employment Report™, nonfarm private sector employment decreased by -301,000 jobs from December to January. The ADP National Employment Report is produced by the ADP Research Institute® in collaboration with Moody’s Analytics.
Construction Spending Up Month-Over-Month and Year-Over-Year in December 2021
On Tuesday (2-1-22), the U.S. Census Bureau reported that total construction spending during December 2021 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $1,639.9 billion, 0.2% above the revised November estimate of $1,636.58 billion. The December figure is 9.0% above the December 2020 estimate of $1,504.2 billion.
Construction Job Openings Post Year-Over-Year Gains
A closer look at the construction sector portion of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLTS) Summary for December, with further analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), reveals that construction labor market remains constricted and the number of job openings continues to rise year-over-year.