The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 326,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, October 2, 2021. This is a decrease of 38,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level. The 4-week moving average was 344,000, an increase of 3,500 from the previous week’s unrevised average.
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U.S. Job Cuts Increased 14% in September, Challenger Reports
According to the latest released Job Cut Report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas (CG&C), Inc, a global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm, U.S.-based employers’ announced job cuts rose by 14% in September to 17,985, up from the 24-year low of 15,723 cuts announced in August. September 2021 total is 85% lower than September 2020, when 118,804 cuts were announced.
Mortgage Applications Decline in the Week Ending October 1, 2021 — The Second Consecutive Week
According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey (WMAS), for the week ending October 1, 2021, the Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume — decreased -6.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased -7% compared with the previous week.
ADP Reports Private Sector Employment Increased by 568,000 Jobs in September
According to the September ADP® National Employment Report™ nonfarm private sector employment increased by 568,000 jobs from August to September. The ADP National Employment Report is produced by the ADP Research Institute® in collaboration with Moody’s Analytics.
Private Residential Spending Increases 24.3% Year-Over-Year in August
A deeper analysis of the U.S. Census Construction Spending data, provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), reveals that total private residential construction spending rose 0.4% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $786.6 billion. Year-over-year total private residential spending was 24.3% higher.
Borrowers Exiting Forbearance Continued to Increase in the Week Ending September 26, 2021
The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 7 basis points from 2.96% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 2.89% as of September 26, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 1.4 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.
Canadian Building Permits Decline in August
Statistics Canada (StatsCan) is reported today (10-4-21) that the nationwide total of building permits decreased -2.1% month-over-month in August to $9.7 billion (CAD). The report notes that while most of the provinces reported increases in building permits, significant declines in British Columbia and Ontario resulted in the lower month-over-month loss.
Smith Leonard Reports Residential Furniture Sales Declined -11% Year-Over-Year in July
Smith Leonard’s latest Monthly Furniture Insight® survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors reported that for the first time since June 2020, new orders in July 2021 were down compared to the same month of 2020. New orders were down -11% compared to July 2020.
Analysis of Q2 2021 Real GDP at State-Level Released
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), with analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), real gross domestic product (GDP) increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbian in Q2 of 2021, when compared with Q1 of 2021. The increases in real GDP ranged from 9.7% in Nevada to 1.8% in Alaska.
Construction Spending in August Up 8.9% Year-Over-Year — Virtually Unchanged Month-Over-Month
The U.S. Census Bureau has announced that total construction spending during August 2021 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $1,584.1 billion, virtually unchanged from the revised July estimate of $1,584.0 billion. The August figure is 8.9% above the August 2020 estimate of $1,455.0 billion.