News in end use

The Conference Board, a non-partisan, not-for-profit think tank founded in 1916, released today (3-29-22) their Consumer Confidence Index® (CCI) for March 2022. The CCI increased slightly in March, after declining in both February and January. The Index now stands at 107.2 (1985=100), up from 105.7 in February.

On Tuesday (3-29-22), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) for February 2022. According to the JOLTS report, as of the last day in February, the number of job openings were at 11.3 million or a rate of 7.0%. These are only minor changes from the January report.

According to the Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index released today (3-28-22), Canadian consumer sentiment tumbled to a reading of 56.3 last week, which is its lowest level in more than a year. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and surging inflation cloud the economic outlook, weekly polling data suggest.

Today (3-28-22), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported State Employment and Unemployment rates for February 2022. According to the BLS, nonfarm payroll employment in February 2022 increased in 27 states and was essentially unchanged in 23 states and the District of Columbia.

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) reported on Friday (3-25-22) that their Pending Homes Sales Index declined -4.1% in February from January to a reading of 104.9. This marks the fourth consecutive month of declines. Contract signings were down in 3 out of 4 regions, with only the Northeast posting a gain.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has developed a new tool which measures how new monthly mortgage payments vary across time—relative to income—using data from MBA’s Weekly Application Survey (WAS). The new index is called the Purchase Applications Payment Index (PAPI).

The University of Michigan today (Friday 3-25-22) released its final Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) for March. The CSI declined to a reading of 59.4 in March, down from 62.8 in February. This is a month-over-month decrease of -5.4% and down -30.0% year-over-year (84.9 in March 2021).

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending March 24, 2022. The PMMS reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.42% with an average 0.8 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.16%. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.17%.

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 187,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, March 19, 2022. This is a decrease of 28,000 from the previous week’s revised level and the lowest level of initial claims since September 6, 1969.

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) reported today (3-24-22) that approximately 633,000 Canadians received regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in January, little changed from December 2021. The January EI statistics reflect labor market conditions during the week of January 9th to 15th, 2022.