The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 712,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, November 28th. A decrease of 75,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
News in end use
Job Cuts Decline for Second Straight Month in November but Remain 45.4% Above a Year Ago
According to the latest released report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas (CG&C), Inc, a global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm, U.S. based employers announced 64,797 job cuts in November.
Mortgage Rates Set Another New Record Lows in the Week Ending 3rd December 2020
Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending 3rd December 2020.
ADP National Employment Report: Private Sector Employment Adds 365,000 Jobs in October
According to the October ADP National Employment Report®, private sector employment increased by 365,000 jobs from September to October.
Home Prices Jump 7.3% Year-Over-Year
CoreLogic®, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solution provider released today (12/2) the CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI™) and HPI Forecast™ for October 2020. According to the HPI year-over-year home prices nationally increased 7.3%.
Canada Prepares to Initiate a New Tax on Foreign Non-Resident Speculative Home Purchases
Canada has announced that it is preparing to initiate a new tax on foreign non-resident speculative purchases of homes in the country. The new tax was mentioned in the Fall Economic Statement, which was published on Monday (12/1), but offered few details.
Mortgage Applications Increased 3.9% in Week Ending November 27th, 2020
According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending November 27th, 2020, the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased -0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased -32% compared with the previous week.
Construction Employment is Down in Three-fourths of all of the States Since February
Analysis provided by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) of recently release government data reveals that construction employment in October remained depressed compared to pre-pandemic levels in three-fourths of states. This in spite of the fact 36 states and D.C. added new construction jobs in October.
Expanded Suburban\Exurbs Construction Continued Through Q3 2020
A growing trend identified by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) in Q2 of housing being built in lower-density areas, has continued into Q3. As single-family and multifamily construction continued to overperform in lower cost markets – i.e. the suburbs and exurbs.
Statistics Canada Reports Real Gross Domestic Products Expanded in Q3
Statistics Canada reported today (12/1) the real gross domestic product (GDP) in Canada expanded at a rate of 8.9% in Q3 of 2020. This following an -11.3% fall in Q2 of 2020 and a -1.9% drop in Q1.