News in end use

Total construction spending during December was estimated at SAAR of $2,096.0 billion, 0.9% above the revised November estimate of $2,078.3 billion.

Residential building construction costs increased 0.9% in Q4, following a 1.2% increase in Q3. Nonresidential costs increased 0.7% in Q4, following a 1.3% increase in Q3.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.63%, down from last week when it averaged 6.69%, Freddie Mac reported.

According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, US-based employers announced 82,307 job cuts in January, a 136% increase from 34,817 cuts announced in December.

The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 224,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 215,000.

Mortgage loan application volume decreased 7.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier, MBA reported.

Nonfarm private sector employment increased by 107,000 jobs in January and annual pay was up 5.2% year-over-year, ADP reported.

Canadian real GDP grew 0.2% in November, after being essentially flat for the previous three months. Overall, 13 out of 20 industrial sectors posted gains.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller US National Home Price NSA Index reported an annual gain of 5.1% in November, up from a 4.7% rise in October.

The FHFA House Price Index increased 6.6% year-over-year in November. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for November was up 0.3% from October.