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US Construction Job Openings Rise in April
Data from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) indicate that US construction job openings increased in April, consistent with the ongoing challenge of the availability of labor for builders. The estimated number of job openings in the construction sector increased to 404,000, a post-Great Recession high. Moreover, this marks a significant gain over the…
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US Building Materials Prices Flat as Gypsum, Lumber Slow Overall Growth
Prices paid for goods used in residential construction did not change in May (not seasonally adjusted) according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. As a result, building materials prices have grown much more slowly in 2019 (+3.1%) than they did over the same period in 2018, during which…
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Spot Lumber Prices … a New Low?
An interesting question among North American construction framing dimension softwood lumber wholesalers and traders Friday: “Spot #lumber prices lowest in how many years?” –– veteran softwood lumber trader It might be a difficult time right now for producers and sellers of Canadian and US softwood lumber, but it’s nothing compared to 2009 and certainly not…
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US Pending Home Sales: April 2019
The US Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), reported by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), is a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts. The PHSI fell -1.5% from 105.9 in March to 104.3 in April, and was still -2% below the level of one year ago, marking the sixteenth straight month of declines on an annualized basis.…
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North America Softwood Lumber Production, Sawmill Capacity Utilization, WWPA: February 2019
The latest issue of the Western Wood Products Association’s monthly Lumber Track, for January-February 2019, shows a +2.1% increase in US softwood lumber production volume, to 5,780 mmfbm, compared to 5,659 million board feet (mmfbm) for the first two months of last year. There was a +3.3% increase for full-year 2018. January – February softwood…
