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North America Softwood Lumber Production, Sawmill Capacity Utilization, WWPA: July 2019
The latest issue of the Western Wood Products Association’s monthly Lumber Track, for January-July 2019, shows a -0.1% decrease in US softwood lumber production volume from the same time last year, to 20,687 mmfbm. January – July softwood lumber production in Canada increased drops through most of this year, down by another -10%, to 14,720…
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US Construction Job Openings: Aug 2019
The US construction sector hiring rate, as measured on a twelve-month moving average basis, held steady at 5.3% in August 2019. The twelve-month moving average for layoffs ticked up to 2.5%, continuing a rising trend in recent months. Data from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) indicate that construction job openings increased in August.…
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US Building Materials Prices: Sept 2019
The PPI report shows that softwood lumber prices increased +3.8% in September 2019—the index’s largest percentage increase since prices rose +4.8% in June 2018. Prices have fallen -8.7% over the last 12 months but remain nearly +15% higher than they were in 2016. Prices paid for goods used in residential construction in the US decreased…
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Madison’s WSPF Lumber Prices: sneak preview
The full North America softwood lumber price list will be updated as usual first thing tomorrow morning Eastern time, however here is a sneak peak at benchmark WSPF prices: After waffling up and down $6 over the past two weeks, the price of standard 2x4s remain flat this week at US$376 mfbm; Utility/#3 loses another…
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US House Prices: July 2019
Softwood lumber prices are a good forward indicator of US home buying activity and house prices. Lumber prices are published every week for that week; housing data comes out monthly with a 2 to 3 month lag. — Madison’s Lumber Prices In July, national home prices in the US continued to grow at the same…
