Wood Markets News


Mortgage Rates Move Lower in the Week Ending August 5, 2021

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending August 5, 2021. The PMMS reports that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.77% with an average 0.6 points, down from last week when it averaged 2.80%. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.88%.

Challenger Reports July Job Cuts Down -93% Year-Over-Year in July 2021

According to the latest Job Cut Report released from Challenger, Gray & Christmas (CG&C), Inc, a global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm, U.S. based companies announced 18,942 job cuts in July, down -93% from the 262,649 cuts announced in July 2020. Last month’s total is the lowest since in June 2000, when 17,241 job cuts were announced.

Weekly Jobless Claims Continued to Decline in the Week Ending July 31, 2021

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 385,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, July 31, 2021, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The 4-week moving average was 394,000, a decrease of 250 from the previous week’s revised average.

Mercer International Acquires State-of-the-Art CLT Manufacturing Facility in Spokane, Washington

Mercer International, which operates or jointly operates several pulp and paper operations in Canada and Germany and runs a timber service in Germany, announced on Wednesday (8-3-21) that it has received approval from a U.S. bankruptcy court to acquire a state-of-the-art cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturing facility in Spokane, Washington.

Mortgage Applications Decline in the Week Ending July 30, 2021

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending July 30, 2021, the Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume — decreased -1.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased -2% compared with the previous week.

ADP Reports Private Sector Employment Increased by 330,000 Jobs in July

According to the July ADP® National Employment Report™, nonfarm private sector employment private sector employment increased by 330,000 jobs from June to July. The report, which is derived from ADP’s actual payroll data, measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month on a seasonally adjusted basis.