Author: Madison’s Lumber Reporter

  • Transportation Statistics : North America

    The latest data, to February 2015, shows volumes of Canadian and US forestry and wood products transported as stable — if moderately improving — over last year. As subscribers to the quarterly Madison’s Forest Pulse already know, volumes and values of wood products manufactured, shipped, and transported across North America for full-year 2014 were very…

  • US Industrial production and Capacity Utilization – March 2015

    Industrial production in the US decreased 0.6 per cent in March after increasing 0.1 per cent in February. For 1Q 2015, industrial production declined at an annual rate of 1.0 per cent, the first quarterly decrease since 2Q 2009. The decline last quarter resulted from a drop in oil and gas well drilling and servicing…

  • Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey – April 2015

    The Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s April Manufacturing Survey’s general business conditions index, released Thursday, turned slightly negative for the first time since December, falling 8 points to -1.2 in a sign that the growth in manufacturing had paused.

  • US Producer Price Indexes for Building Materials – March 2015

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics released Tuesday the Producer Price Indexes for March, reporting that inflation in prices received by producers increased 0.2 per cent in March after a string of monthly declines. The overall increase was led by increasing prices for energy, mainly gasoline. Prices for services rose 0.1 per cent. As for building…

  • National Multi Housing Council Quarterly Survey of Apartment Market Conditions – April 2015

    All four indexes landed above the breakeven level of 50 in the April National Multifamily Housing Council Quarterly Survey of Apartment Market Conditions. The Market Tightness Index increased by 7 points from last quarter (and by 2 points from a year earlier) to 58. Thirty-one per cent of respondents reported tighter conditions than three months…