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Municipalities issued building permits worth $6.5 billion in July, a 0.8% increase from the previous month. The advance was largely the result of higher construction for institutional and industrial buildings.
Residential building permits were down 2% to $4 billion in July, the fourth consecutive monthly decrease. In the non-residential sector, the value of building permits increases 5.6% to $2.4 billion. This gain followed two consecutive months of declines.

“America’s Top States for Business 2016,” compiled by CNBC, ranks the best work states, with the Top 10 in order of: Utah, Texas, Colorado, Minnesota, North Carolina, Washington, Michigan, Georgia, Iowa and Florida. CNBC compiled its list based on 10 categories of competitiveness: Workforce, Cost of Doing Business, Infrastructure, Economy, Quality of Life, Technology & Innovation, Education, Business Friendliness, Cost of Living and Access to Capital.

America’s top States for Business 2016 list has been announced with the top 10 (in order): Utah, Texas, Colorado, Minnesota, North Carolina, Washington, Michigan, Georgia, Iowa, and Florida. Compiled by CNBC, the rankings are based on 10 categories of competitiveness: Workforce, Cost of Doing Business, Infrastructure, Economy, Quality of Life, Technology & Innovation, Education, Business Friendliness, Cost of Living and Access to Capital.

However, CNBC’s ranking does not include some prime states for woodworking. Utilizing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the following is a list of the top 10 woodworking states for furniture, cabinetry and millwork.

Residential furniture and cabinetry top 5 states are: California (with 1,419 shops), Florida (1,074), New York (684), Texas (663), and North Carolina (632). However, based on workforce size the ranking is as follows: North Carolina, California, Mississippi, Texas, and Ohio. Looking at just wood kitchen cabinet and countertop manufacturing facilities California comes in on top with 791 shops, followed by Florida (752), Texas (404), New York (345) and Georgia (341).

For office furniture, fixtures, and millwork shops California yet again ranks number one with 396 shops, followed by New York (279), Illinois (223), North Carolina (199) and Florida (195). Examining the 1,290 architectural woodwork and millwork shops New York ranks number one with 130 shops, followed closely by California (106), Florida (87), Illinois (83) and Texas (76).

Following the 2008 housing bubble burst, many thought the housing market would never fully recover. However, all signs are pointing towards continued growth and expansion within the U.S. housing market.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau construction spending during the first six months of this year amounted to $539.8 billion, a 6.2% increase over the same time period in 2015. During June 2016, construction spending was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,133.5 billion where spending on residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $445.8 billion in June.

In addition to an increase in residential construction spending, sales of new single-family houses in June 2016 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592,000, 3.5% above the revised may rate of 572,000 and 25.4% above the June 2015 estimate of 472,000.

U.S lumber production through May totaled 13.450 billion board feet, a 2.5% increase from the January-May 2015 total according to the Western Wood Products Association. The South had the highest increase in production, up 3.0% over the same time frame in 2015.

In Canada, lumber production in May totaled of 2.378 billion board feet, a 9% increase above the May 2015 number. The year-to-date output is 9% ahead of the 2015 year-to-date pace. Quebec had the highest increase in production with a 16% increase over last year’s pace.

Nearly nine years later, the housing U.S. housing market is finally making its comeback. As a bright spot for the U.S economy, the housing market has led to increased employment, investment and overall economic growth. Although some areas such as sales of existing homes have been on a rapid rise other aspects of the housing market has yet to catch up to historical norms.

While May saw the highest level of sales for existing homes in the past nine years, the sales of new single-family houses decreased 6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 551,000. Investment in private, residential construction has also been below historical norms while private spending on multi-family housing has surpassed pre-bubble era.

Another drastic change to the housing market seen over the past 15 years has been the overall size of homes. New single-family houses are now increasingly larger because builders have been focusing on larger homes with more amenities. About 31% of new constructed houses are over 3,000 square feet in 2015 compared to only 17% in 1999.

The U.S Housing market has made a slow recovery but it is not done yet. Signs are pointing to continued growth within the housing market at demand for housing increases as unemployment decreases and wages increase.

U.S. industrial output rose in June at a seasonally adjusted rate of 0.6%, according to the Federal Reserve. The last time it jumped at that rate was in July 2015 and economists are forecasting another increase during the fourth quarter of 2016.

With signs pointing to economic growth within industrial production, manufacturing has also received positive growth on the Institute for Supply Management index (ISM). Activity was gauged at a 53.2* on the ISM index during June, a 1.9 increase compared to the previous month. This is the fourth consecutive month in which manufacturing production increased with notable growth in both orders and production and exports hitting the highest level since November 2014.

These encouraging signs indicate that the U.S. industrial and manufacturing industries are on the mend following recent periods of contraction.

For more information please visit ISM and The Federal Reserve

*On the Institute for Supply Management index a reading above 50 indicated that the factory activity is expanding and a reading below 50 signals contraction.

For the ninth consecutive year, investment in residential construction increased year-over year. In the first quarter, total investment in residential construction rose 2.1% to $26.1 billion compared with the same quarter in 2015. Higher investment in apartment and apartment-condominium building construction, up 21.2% to $4.1 billion, was responsible for the advance at the national level.

The latest data from April shows that new residential construction increased 8.4%, totaling $4.2 billion, compared to the same month in 2015. Continuing the trend, increase was driven by the higher investment levels in apartment and apartment-condominium building.

While investment within the past few months has increased at a fast rate, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) projects housing starts to slow down for the remainder of 2016 and going into 2017. Annual housing starts are expected to range from 181,000 units to 192,000 units in 2016 and from 172,000 units to 183,000 units in 2017. The forecast for the housing market will have strong regional variations due to slower growth in oil-producing provinces.

Bigger is always better. For Americans, that seems to hold true in regards to housing. New single-family houses have increased in size over the last forty years according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Homes are 61% larger than the median from 1975 and 11% larger than 2005. The median size of new single-family houses was 2,467 square feet last year. Not only are houses getting bigger but there is an addition of amenities, 93% of new houses had air conditioning compared to 46% in 1975. Almost 96% of new homes last year had at least two bathrooms compared to 60% forty years ago.

The housing market is continuing to gain strength due to steady job creation and low mortgage rates. According to the National Association of Realtors, the sales of existing homes increased for the second straight month in April. Along with the recent U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, sales of new single-family houses were at adjusted annual rate of 619,000 for April. This is a 16.6% increase from the Revised March rate and is 23.8% above the corresponding month last year. April 2016 is the strongest month in more than eight years.

The overall economy grew for the 84^th consecutive month and economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded for the third consecutive month in May 2016 according to the latest Manufacturing ISM report. The May PMI registered at 51.3%, an increase of 0.5% from the April reading at 50.8%.

Out of 18 manufacturing industries, 12 industries reported overall growth with Wood Products leading the pack. The Wood Products manufacturing industry reported the most growth in production and new export orders but also stated significant growth in the new orders category. Wood Products additionally reported paying lower prices during the month of May.

These indications show that for the Wood Products manufacturing industry the market is improving progressively in both orders and pricing.

For more information, please visit: PRNEWSWIRE

The world’s two largest home improvement retailers have reported growth in the first quarter of this fiscal year.

Lowes, Mooresville, N.C., reported $884 million for the first quarter, a 31.4% increase over the same time period last year. Sales for the quarter increase 7.8% to $15.2 billion from $14.1 billion during the first quarter in 2015.

Home Depot, Atlanta, GA, reported first quarter net earnings $1.8 billion, an increase of 19% from the same period last year. Home Depot also reported sales of $22.8 billion for this quarter, a 9% increase from the first quarter during fiscal year 2015.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their first quarter Housing Opportunities and Market Experience survey which reveals that 85% of surveyed current homeowners and 75% of renters would purchase a single-family home in the next six months. When asked if they would purchase a home outside an urban area, 85 % of homeowners and 21% of renters answered that they would.

While there has been an increase in the demand for single-family homes, builder’s confidence for March has remained even with February. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), builder’s confidence for newly built single-family homes has been steady at a level of 58 on the National Associations of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The component gauging current sales conditions was level at 65 while sales expectations in the next six months dropped 3 points to 61 from February.

Please visit: The NAR Home Survey & NAHB

According to the Decorative Laminates study by the Freedonia Group, the demand for high-pressure laminates in the Unites States is projected to increase over the next four years. Decorative surfaces are in high demand for domestic manufacturing of cabinets, furniture, retail fixtures, and wall paneling. There is an expected 2.5% growth annually, reaching 11.6 billion square feet by 2020, approximately a $6.8 billion dollar increase. The cabinet market is projected to have the most gains in the use of decorative surfaces.

For more information, please visit: Freedonia Group