News in end use

The US rental market logged its sixth consecutive month of negative growth with the nationwide median rent falling 0.3%, in February, Apartment List reported.

Overall employment in the construction sector increased by 11,000 positions in January, NAHB analysis shows.

Total US nonfarm payroll employment increased by 353,000 in January, similar to the revised gain of 333,000 in December. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%.

The University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment increased 13.3% month-over-month to a reading of 79.0 in January, up from 69.7 in December.

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.