Home prices rose in August but at a slowing pace, says S&P Dow Jones Indices. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 3.2 percent annual gain compared to 3.1 percent in July. An annual gain of 1.5 percent was reported for the 10-City Composite compared to 1.6 percent in July. […]
United Auto Workers have moved on to negotiations with Ford now that a new labor agreement has been approved at General Motors. Preliminary negotiations have been ongoing since July 15, but talks have now ramped up as the UAW-Ford team puts together a final contract for the 55,000 Ford union workers. Rory Gamble, UAW-Ford vice […]
United Auto Workers at General Motors approved a labor deal on Friday ending a 40-day strike that disrupted operations for GM and its suppliers. About 57 percent of GM’s 49,000 union workers voted in favor of ratifying the new four-year agreement. “General Motors members have spoken,” said Terry Dittes, UAW Vice President and Director of […]
Total North American light vehicle assemblies were down by 3.0 percent year over year in three months through August. This report is based on data from LMC Automotive for automotive assemblies in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The breakdown of assemblies is “Personal” (cars for personal use) and “Commercial” (light vehicles less than 6.0 tonnes […]
New home sales remained relatively stable in September, slipping only 0.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 701,000. The August rate was revised downward to 706,000. “New home sales inched down in September, but the ongoing trend remains positive as builders increase their production,” said Greg Ugalde, chairman of the National Association of […]
Existing home sales fell 2.2. percent from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.38 million in September, says the National Association of Realtors. The decline followed two consecutive months of gain. Sales in the Midwest fell the hardest but all four regions saw declines. Higher home prices due to insufficient inventory was partially to […]
Construction jobs increased in 39 states and the District of Columbia between September 2018 and September 2019, while construction employment increased in 28 states from August to September, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of the latest Labor Department data. “Although evidence is mounting that the overall economy is slowing, […]
The United Auto Workers and General Motors reportedly reached a tentative four-year labor agreement on Tuesday, but it remains unclear how quickly operations will resume and how long before the automotive supply chain gets back to normal. The union has been on strike since Sept. 16, resulting in 30 facility closures and layoffs at GM plants […]
Housing starts fell 9.4 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,256,000, well below the August revised rate of 1,386,000 due mostly to a large decline in the multifamily sector. Single-family housing rose 0.3 percent from August, while units in buildings of five units or more plummeted 28.3 percent. All four regions […]
Negotiations continued between the United Auto Workers and General Motors on Saturday afternoon. On Friday, the UAW presented a counter to the proposal GM submitted on Monday. Recent comments by the union hint that a possible tentative agreement may be in the works. “A short time ago, today, Friday, Oct. 11, 2019, we counterproposed to […]
August heating and cooling equipment shipments came in at 1.85 million units for the month, up 4.7 percent over the same month one year ago, according to data recently released by the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). This is the second consecutive month that total monthly equipment shipments have increased on a year-over-year basis […]
Commerce Department Construction Put in Place (CPIP) data for August, released Oct. 1, shows total construction has had negative momentum every month since October last year. In the months June, July and August, total construction declined for the first time since November 2011, according to Steel Market Update’s analysis of the Commerce data. At SMU, […]
The Dodge Momentum Index gained 4.1 percent for a reading of 143.6 in September due to an increase in plans for commercial construction projects. The commercial component jumped 8.9 percent while the institutional component fell 4.8 percent. The Momentum Index, issued by Dodge Data & Analytics, is a monthly measure of the first report for […]
The United Auto Workers’ strike against General Motors is in its 23rd day. After the union rejected a counterproposal from GM on Sunday, UAW-GM Vice President Terry DIttes commented, “These negotiations have taken a turn for the worse.” “We, in this union, could not be more disappointed with General Motors,” he said, adding that the […]
Construction employment continues to lag behind demand as a worker shortage continues. Construction employment grew in 252 out of 358 metro areas between August 2018 and August 2019, declined in 60 and was unchanged in 46, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released by the Associated General Contractors of America. A recent […]
United Auto Workers are in their third week of a strike against General Motors. The back and forth of negotiations continue with the union reportedly rejecting a counterproposal offered by GM on Monday. In a letter to union representatives on Tuesday, Terry Dittes, UAW GM vice president and director, outlined the problems with the proposal: […]
U.S. auto sales slipped in September as leading Asian automakers Toyota and Honda reported double-digit declines. Toyota sales fell 16.5 percent and Honda, after a record August, saw sales drop 14.1 percent. Nissan reported a 17.6 percent plunge in sales. Subaru ended an amazing 93-month run of sales increases with a 9.4 percent drop in […]
Construction spending edged up 0.1 percent in August from July but declined from year-ago levels, with divergent trends in residential and nonresidential categories, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new federal spending data. Association officials said that many contractors in its recent survey report that staffing challenges are causing […]
Last week, President Trump revoked the federal waiver that had allowed California to set vehicle emissions standards that are more restrictive than the federal standards. California and 22 other states quickly sued the Trump administration in federal court over the states’ rights to protect their own air quality. The president’s move sets in motion a […]
New home sales rose a solid 7.1 percent in August and jumped 18 percent from a year ago, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sales in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 713,000. “With job growth continuing and lower interest rates in […]
Price growth continues to slow in the housing market, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index for July 2019 reported an average annual gain of 3.2 percent, unchanged from June. The 20-City composite posted a 2.0 percent gain from 2.2 percent in the prior […]
The strike by United Auto Workers at General Motors is disrupting sister operations in Canada. As Day 5 of the strike began Friday, GM Canada announced layoffs for more than 2,500 of its workers. Union leaders expect further reductions next week. General Motors Canada laid off about 1,200 workers at the assembly plant in Oshawa […]
A workforce shortage continues to impede gains in construction employment, says the Associated General Contractors of America. Thirty-nine states added construction jobs between August 2018 and August 2019, while construction employment increased in 29 states from July to August, according to AGC’s latest analysis of Labor Department data. “Even more states probably would have posted […]
The strike by 48,000 members of the United Auto Workers against General Motors extended through its fourth day on Thursday with reports of some progress, but much negotiation still to come. Suppliers to the nation’s largest automaker are reportedly starting to feel the effects of cancelled deliveries and lost sales, with some announcing layoffs and […]
Housing starts rebounded in August, jumping 12.3 percent from July and 6.6 percent from a year ago to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,364,000. Multifamily construction surged 30.9 percent and single-family starts 4.4 percent from July. “Housing has been on an upswing in recent months as the pace of permits and starts has been […]
Existing home sales grew for the second consecutive month with three U.S. regions reporting higher gains, said the National Association of Realtors. Sales rose 1.3 percent from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.49 million in August. Sales were up 2.6 percent from a year ago. Sales of single-family homes rose 2.9 percent […]
Builder confidence hit a one-year high in September, according to the latest NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. The HMI, which measures builder perceptions of current and future sales of new single-family homes, rose one point to 68. The HMI index gauging current sales conditions increased two points to 75 and the component measuring traffic of […]
United Auto Workers called for a strike at General Motors beginning at 11:59 p.m. tonight, Sunday, Sept. 15. On Saturday evening, UAW Vice President Terry DIttes announced there would be no extension of the current 2015 collective bargaining agreement. “We stood up for General Motors when they needed us most. Now we are standing together […]
A potential strike by janitorial workers at General Motors may cause disruption at five GM plants, if autoworkers don’t strike first. The United Auto Workers is ending a contract extension on Saturday, Sept. 14, with janitorial services company Aramark, which coincides with the expiration of auto worker contracts with GM, Ford and FCA. Should a […]
Planning activity for nonresidential construction declined in August, according to the latest report issued by Dodge Data & Analytics. The Dodge Momentum Index slid 1.3 percent to 127.8 last month primarily due to a 16.6 percent decline in the institutional component that offset a 9.1 percent gain in the commercial component. The index is a […]