Article source: ConstructConnect

There’s much to cover, so let’s jump right into a discussion of the some of the most interesting information to be gleaned from the latest public and private sector data releases.

(1) Grizzled old economists, who have lived through previous periods of rapid price inflation, have never put their memories of those difficult periods fully behind them. For nearly two decades, they’ve annoyed their younger colleagues by repeatedly warning of the potential risks of inflation when it seemed the threat of that slumbering bugbear had forever been driven from the landscape. Turns out, they were right. March 2020’s U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) increase of +8.5% y/y was the highest in 40 years. The ‘core’ rate of inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy items, was +6.5% y/y in the latest month.

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Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey for March speaks of a +73,000 month-to-month gain in total number of jobs in the land of the red maple leaf.

The +73,000 figure is a respite from the wild swings in February and January that came in at +337,000 and -200,000 respectively.
In the context of the long-term pre-pandemic record of jobs change from month to month in Canada, +73,000 is quite okay.

Construction’s employment increase in March was +14,000. Construction, with a total level of employment of 1.534 million jobs, is catching up with manufacturing, with a total level of employment of 1.760 million jobs.
It’s by no means a foregone conclusion, however, that the total number of jobs in construction will eventually reach parity with manufacturing. Due to shortages of labor throughout the economy, construction work is likely to become more modular in nature, and that will slow the drift.
Nevertheless, there are numerous factors pointing to further robust increases in construction employment in the months and years ahead.
Housing starts in the nation have been booming. But international comparisons of existing housing stock (in units) per capita are placing Canada behind other industrialized nations, especially in Europe. To address this issue, the just-released federal budget includes provisions to hit the accelerator even more on residential homebuilding.

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Article source: ConstructConnect

The three main U.S. stock market indices turned positive again during March, after dipping and diving through January and February.

The DJI from beginning to end of March was +2.3% after being -3.5% in February and -3.3% in January.

The S&P 500 was +3.6% in March after being -3.1% in February and -5.2% in January.

NASDAQ was +3.4% in the latest month after being -3.4% in February and -9.0% in January. (It should be noted that NASDAQ was in ‘bear’ territory not so long ago. From November 22, 2021, to March 14, 2022, NASDAQ’s high-to-low index level descent was -22.6%.)

Toronto’s stock exchange has performed better than the American indices, +3.6% in March, after being flat in February, at +0.1%, and down only a little in January, -0.6%. The TSE, or TSX as it is alternatively known, is heavily weighted with resource sector firms. Most commodity prices were firming up before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the new geopolitical uncertainty has magnified the tendency for investors to want to hold physical assets, such as gold.

By the way, surges in commodity prices have historically been positive for the development and construction of mega-sized resource projects.

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