The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 187,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, March 19, 2022. This is a decrease of 28,000 from the previous week’s revised level and the lowest level of initial claims since September 6, 1969.
Wood Markets News
Canadians Receiving Employment Insurance Little Changed Month-Over-Month in January 2022
Statistics Canada (StatsCan) reported today (3-24-22) that approximately 633,000 Canadians received regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in January, little changed from December 2021. The January EI statistics reflect labor market conditions during the week of January 9th to 15th, 2022.
New Residential Single-Family Homes Sales Down Month-Over-Month and Year-Over-Year in February
New residential single-family home sales for February 2022 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 772,000, according to estimates. This is -2.0% below the revised January rate of 788,000 and is -6.2% below the February 2021 estimate of 823,000.
Freddie Mac Reports its Multifamily Apartment Investment Market Index® Declined in Q4 2021
Freddie Mac is reporting that its Multifamily Apartment Investment Market Index® declined by -4.8% in Q4 2021 and is down -2.4% when compared to Q4 2020. Record multifamily price appreciation, which saw its largest single-quarter growth in the history of the index, and rising mortgage rates more than offset unprecedented growth in net operating incomes.
Mortgage Applications Decline for the Second Consecutive Week in the Week Ending March 18, 2022
According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey (WMAS), for the week ending March 18, 2022, the Market Composite Index (a measure of mortgage loan application volume) declined -8.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.
Shares of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Decline to 1.18% as of February 28, 2022
According to the new monthly Mortgage Bankers Association’s Loan Monitoring Survey, the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by -12 basis points from 1.30% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior month to 1.18% as of February 28, 2022. The MBA estimates that 590,000 homeowners remain in forbearance plans.
Canadian Pacific Railway Resumes Operations After Agreeing to Binding Arbitration with Teamsters of Canada Rail Conference Union
The Canadian Pacific Railway resumed operations at Noon (MDT) on Tuesday (3-22-22) after reaching an agreement with the Teamsters of Canada Rail Conference union, which represents more than 3,000 workers at the railway, to resolve their labor dispute through binding arbitration. The agreement for binding arbitration comes after six months of contract negotiations.
Western Forest Products Announces Another Temporary Curtailment at Their Chemainus Sawmill
Western Forest Products (WFP) announced on Monday (3-21-22) that starting this week, their Chemainus Sawmill is once again undergoing a production curtailment due to a lack of logs. The last curtailment started on February 2nd and lasted nearly three weeks.
Nuchatlaht First Nation Asks B.C. Supreme Court to Halt Logging on Parts of the Nation’s Territory
Lawyers for the Nuchatlaht First Nation asked the B.C. Supreme Court to recognize its rights and title and put a stop to logging on their land. The lawsuit filed in 2017 asserts that the governments have denied Nuchatlaht rights by authorizing logging and “effectively dispossessing” the nation of parts of its territory on Vancouver Island’s west coast.
Fire Insurance Unaffordable for Most Australian Plantation Timber Growers
Still recovering from the Black Summer bushfires, the Australian timber industry continues to face a multitude of issues and insurance, or the lack thereof, is just one of many. After the east coast bushfires of a couple of years ago, plantation fire insurance rates tripled or quadrupled.