According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 661,000 in September, and the unemployment rate declined by -0.5% to 7.9%. Which represents 12.6 million Americans without employment.
Wood Markets News
FEA’s Weekly Order Survey Participants’ Views Vary Greatly from Region to Region
FEA’s Weekly Order Survey respondents’ views on their market’s activity not only varied from region to region but also appeared to reflect on whether the builder was building custom homes or tract housing.
SDS Lumber Company Exploring Changes to their Diverse Businesses
SDS Lumber Company, founded nearly 70-years ago, has announced that it is in the process of actively exploring changes to their diverse businesses.
Reuter Poll Suggests 2021 has the Potential of Being a Difficult Year for the Global Housing Markets
A recent Reuters poll conducted between September 15th – 29th, disclosed that most major housing markets around the world will not be able to keep up with consumer price inflation in 2021. As a result, they are faced with multiple downside risks, in spite of rising strongly this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic and historically low interest rates.
Mortgage Rates Move Slightly Lower in Week Ending 1st October 2020
Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending 24th September 2020. The PMMS shows that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.88% with an average 0.8 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.90%.
Employers Continued to Cut Jobs in Q3 2020
According to the monthly report released today (10/1) from Challenger, Gray and Christmas Inc., a global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm, job cuts announced by U.S. based employers jumped to 118,804 in September, up 2.6% from August’s total of 115,762.
Weekly Jobless Claims Decline in the Week Ending 26th September 2020
The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 837,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday September 26th. An decrease of 36,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
Total U.S. Construction Spending up Year-Over-Year 2.5% in August
The U.S. Census Bureau has announced that total construction spending during August 2020, was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 1,412.8 billion, 1.4% above the revised July estimate of $1,392.7 billion.
Report Finds B.C. Interior Douglas-Fir Forests Are Not Being Managed to Full Healthy Forest Potential
New research conducted by the B.C. Forest Practices Board (FPB) offers an illustration of how climate change is going to alter the province’s landscape, as well pointing out potential shortcomings in current management practices.
Oregon and California Wildfires Rekindle Debate about Protection of the Northern Spotted Owl
The debate over the protections of the Northern spotted owl have come back front center due to the wildfires that have and continue to ravage the West Coast. Opponents say the protections have prevented logging that would have thinned out forests and made the blazes less intense and destructive.