News in end use


Weekly Jobless Claims Increase in the Week Ending March 27, 2021

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 719,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday March 27, 2021. An increase of 61,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The 4-week moving average was 719,000, a decrease of 10,500 from the previous week’s revised average.

Announced Job Cuts 86% Lower Year-Over-Year in March 2021

According to the latest report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas (CG&C), Inc, a global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm, planned job cuts announced by U.S. based employers fell 86% in March to 30,603 from the 222,288 job cuts announced in March 2020, when the fallout from the COVID-19 lockdowns began to impact businesses across the country.

Pending Home Sales Index Decline for Second Month in a Row in February

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) has reported that their Pending Homes Sales Index (PHSI) — which is based on signed real estate contracts, not actual closings, for existing single-family homes, condos, and co-ops — declined for the second month in a row, failing -10.6% in February to a reading of 110.3.

Canadian Real GDP Increases 0.7% in January

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) is reporting that real gross domestic product (GDP) in Canada rose 0.7% in January, following 0.1% growth in December. This marks the ninth consecutive monthly increase, continuing to offset the steepest drops on record in Canadian economic activity observed in March and April 2020.