Housing & Economy

Consumer Economics

Canada's Consumer Price Index in March increased 0.5% month-over-month, up 4.3% annually compared to 5.2% in February; monthly increase led by travel tours, up 36.7% and largely driven by higher seasonal demand during the March break: Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (04/18)

Household Income / Expenditures

Expand PG&E rate reform to water use
San Francisco Chronicle (CA) (04/17)

Employee Compensation & Benefits

Republic Services workers strike in Memphis, Tennessee, rally at South Shelby Landfill; unionized under Teamsters Local 667, strikers demand fairer wages, safer working conditions after woman was killed by equipment at South Memphis location two weeks ago
Commercial Appea (04/18)

Uralkali launches campaign to invite school graduates to continue their education in the company’s partnering universities in key professions; tuition fees will be fully covered by Uralkali as the future employer
OAO Uralkali (04/18)

GDP

IMF expects China to account for 22.6% of total world GDP by 2028, leading world growth; India and the US to contribute 12.9% and 11.3%, respectively
CE Noticias Financieras (04/18)

South Africa's Competition Commission to investigate the steel industry over concerns of anticompetitive behavior; inquiry will assess factors behind country's lack of production and supply competitiveness, which contributes 1.5% of GDP and 190,000 jobs
Business Day (South Africa) (04/17)

Energy Indicators

US average on-highway diesel fuel price in week ended Apr. 17 increased to US$4.116/gallon from US$4.098/gallon last week; average regular gasoline price increased to US$3.663/gallon from US$3.596/gallon: EIA
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) (04/18)

Employment Statistics & Trends

Number of UK payroll employees increased by 31,000 in March from February, reaching 30.0 million: ONS
UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) (04/18)

UK employment rate estimated at 75.8% in three months to February, 0.8 percentage points lower than pre-pandemic level but 0.2 percentage points higher than previous quarter; unemployment rate estimated at 3.8%, up 0.1% quarter-over-quarter: ONS
UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) (04/18)

Inflation

Mom-and-pop pet sales channel in Mexico posts flat growth in 2022, according to data; 20% price hike for dog food, 16% hike for cat food pushes two out of seven households to buy unpackaged dry pet food in bulk, despite bulk food/kilo being more costly
PetFoodIndustry.com (04/18)

Price of some food staples in Sweden continues to rise in March, with sugar prices up 17%, butter prices up 12.2%, and milk, cheese and egg prices up 8.5% year-over-year, data shows
swissinfo.ch English (04/18)

Housing Starts

Privately‐owned US March housing starts at seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,420,000, down 0.8% from revised February level, down 17.2% annually; building permits fell 24.8% annually to 1,413,000, completions up 12.9% to 1,542,000: Dept. of Commerce
U.S. Dept. of Commerce (04/18)

Housing Affordability

US builder confidence in market for newly built single-family homes rose one point to 45 in April, the fourth straight monthly increase; limited resale inventory helped increase demand despite building material issues: NAHB
National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) (04/17)

Home Ownership

Typical US homeowners became 40 times wealthier than renters over last decade; low-income owners accumulated US$98,900 in wealth, while middle- and upper-income owners amassed US$122,100 and US$150,800 in wealth, respectively: NAR report
USA Today Online (04/18)

Mortgages / Home Financing

Share of US mortgage loans in forbearance at 0.55% as of Mar. 31; share of Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance fell 10 basis points to 1.18%, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased 2 basis points to 0.26%: Mortgage Bankers Assn.
Mortgage Bankers Association (04/18)

Residential Construction & Real Estate

Canadian home sales projected to fall 1.1% year-over-year in 2023 to 492,674 properties, then rise 13.9% to 561,090 units in 2024; average price expected to decline 4.8% in 2023 to C$670,389: CREA
Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) (04/17)

Commercial Construction & Real Estate

Holmen and Martinsons are supplying CLT structural components for Sweden's tallest wooden office building under construction in Umea; building will be 10 stories high and environmentally certified
M-Brain Nordic News (04/18)

Zeus Industrial nears opening of advanced catheter manufacturing facility in Arden Hills, Minnesota; 75,600 square-foot facility includes advanced R&D lab and cleanroom to design, develop, and validate new catheter prototypes
PR Newswire (04/17)

Corporate Management

Cincinnati-based flexible packaging solutions manufacturer JBM Packaging is now B Corp Certified; certification requires participating organizations to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency
Business Wire (04/18)

Ford Blue vehicle programs leader Trevor Worthington to retire on April 28 after 37 years at Ford; Worthington played key role in developing Ford Performance Racing and global products across Asia Pacific
ENP Newswire (04/18)

Corporate Finance

Momenta leads Series A funding for Tvarit, aiming to boost net-zero metal manufacturing; Tvarit's AI solution increases productivity while reducing energy costs for machine operators
PR Web (04/18)

Famille C Participations acquires a majority stake in UK-based Pai Skincare following Series C funding round; Famille C Participations is the corporate venture capital arm of the Courtin-Clarins family, which owns Clarins
Marketline - Deals (04/18)

Corporate Economics

Canadian multifactor productivity fell 2.1% in the business sector in 2021; decline resulted from combined input growth outpacing output growth: Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (04/18)

Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Empire State Manufacturing Index in April rose 35.4 points from March to 10.8; New York State manufacturing activity increased for first time in five months as new orders, shipments surged
Reuters (04/17)

Small Businesses

US-based BlueGrace Logistics to open Mexico office to support existing portfolio of shippers moving freight in, across Mexico beginning in late 2023; report shows 88% of US SMEs are reorganizing supply chains to use suppliers in Mexico this year
PR Newswire (04/17)

Thousands   |   Latest: May/22

Total, Seasonally Adjusted   |   Latest: 12/31/23

Total, Not Seasonally Adjusted   |   Latest: 12/31/23

Total, Seasonally Adjusted   |   Latest: 12/31/23

%   |   Latest: Mar/23

%   |   Latest: Mar/23

%   |   Latest: 04/13/23

Real/US$   |   Latest: 04/18/23

Index 1985=100   |   Latest: Mar/23

Leading Indicators

Interactive Chart: Click on legend/key to see full view on your dashboard

Interactive Chart: Click on legend/key to see full view on your dashboard

Sources: Industry Intelligence Inc.,Census Bureau