News in end use

According to the  ADP® National Employment Report™, released on Wednesday (5-3-24), private sector employment increased by 192,000 jobs in April and annual pay was up 5.0%, year-over-year.

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA), for the week ending Friday, April 26, 2024, the Market Composite Index decreased 2.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 1.4% compared with the previous week.

According to the JOLTS report, as of the last business day in March the number of job openings was 8.5 million, little changed from the 8.8 million reported in February. The job opening rate was 5.1% down from the 5.3% reported in February. 

On Wednesday (5-1-24), The U.S. Census Bureau reported that total construction spending during March 2024 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $2,083.9 billion, 0.2% below the revised February estimate of $2,087.8 billion.

According to the report national vacancy rates in Q1 2024 were 6.6% for rental housing and 0.8% for homeowner housing. The rental vacancy rate was not statistically different from the rate in Q1 2023 when it was at 6.4%, and virtually the same as the rate in the Q4 2023 reported as 6.6%.

The Conference Board, a non-partisan, not-for-profit think tank, founded in 1916, on Tuesday (4-30-24), released its Consumer Confidence Index® (CCI) for April 2024. The CCI Index declined in April for the third consecutive month, falling to a reading of 97.0 from a downwardly revised March reading of 103.1.

On Tuesday (4-30-2024),  S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller released its U.S. National Home Price NSA Index for February 2024. The Index which covers all nine U.S. Census divisions, revealed that 18 out of the 20 major metro markets reported month-over-month (Jan. 24 – Feb. 24) price increases.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported on Tuesday (4-30-24), its House Price Index (FHFA HPI®) for February 2024. According to the HPI, U.S. home prices increased 1.2% from January. Year-over-year (Feb.23 – Feb. 24) U.S. house prices increased 7.0%.

Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported on Tuesday (4-30-24), that Canadian real gross domestic product (GDP) increased 0.2% in February, following a 0.5% gain in January. Overall, 12 of the 20 sectors reported increases in February.

The new NAHB estimates show that affordable housing is a serious problem even before any further price or interest rate increases.