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Report from
North America
Multifamily construction surged in January housing starts
Residential construction opened the year with a mixed
signal: more shovels in the ground, but fewer projects
entering the pipeline.
Privately owned housing starts rose to a seasonally
adjusted annual rate of 1.49 million units in January, up
7.2% from December and 9.5% higher than a year earlier,
according to Census Bureau data. The gain was largely
driven by multifamily construction, an increasingly
important supply lever as affordability pressures weigh on
homebuyers.
Single-family starts fell 2.8% month-over-month to a rate
of 935,000 units, while single-family permits slipped
slightly to 873,000, down 0.9% from December. Builders
have been cautious about ramping up detached home
construction as mortgage rates remain elevated and
affordability constraints keep many buyers sidelined.
“With home values expected to remain somewhat flat, the
combination of higher costs and increased competition
from resale inventory is keeping many builders on the
sidelines,” said Zillow senior economist Orphe
Divounguy.
Multifamily development, by contrast, powered much of
January’s construction activity. Starts for buildings with
five units or more climbed to a 524,000 annual pace, while
permits for the same category reached 453,000 units.
Rental projects have dominated the development pipeline
over the past several years as institutional capital flowed
into apartments during the pandemic-era housing shortage.
Meanwhile, authorisations for new housing units fell to an
annualized rate of 1.38 million in January, down 5.4%
from December and 5.8% compared with last January. The
drop suggests developers may be slowing their pipeline
after a volatile year shaped by high borrowing costs and
uncertain demand.
In Canada, data for February shows housing stars heading
in a positive direction. The Canada Mortgage and Housing
Corporation reported the seasonally adjusted annualized
rate of housing starts edged up to 250,900 units from a
revised 240,148 units in January
See: https://www.census.gov/construction/nrc/current/index.html
US existing home sales rose in February
US existing home sales unexpectedly increased in
February as lower mortgage rates and a moderation in
house-price growth pulled buyers back into the market, but
still-tight supply could constrain activity during the spring
selling season.
Home sales rose 1.7% last month to a seasonally adjusted
annual rate of 4.09 million units, the National Association
of Realtors said. Data for the prior month was revised to
show sales falling to a rate of 4.02 million units from the
previously reported 3.91 million-unit pace.
"Housing affordability is improving, and consumers are
responding," Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said.
"Inventory is growing, but sluggishly. If demand picks up
notably in the coming months and outpaces supply growth,
home prices will inevitably rise."
The Northeast, which has seen a very snowy and cold
winter, was the only region to see a decline in sales for the
month. Sales decreased 6.0% in February month-over
month to an annual rate of 470,000, down 4.1% year-over-
year. Sales in the Midwest increased 1.1% month-over-
month to an annual rate of 940,000, down 4.1% year-over-
year. Sales in the South increased 1.6% month-over-month
to an annual rate of 1.89 million, up 0.5% year-over-year.
In the West, sales increased 8.2% month-over-month to an
annual rate of 790,000, down 1.3% year-over-year.
See: https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/nar-existing-home-sales-
report-shows-1-7-increase-in-february
US economy lost 92,000 jobs in February
The US economy shed 92,000 jobs in February, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated, far below forecasters'
expectations and a signal the labor market is still in low-
hire mode as employers navigate tariff-related inflation
pressures, AI adoption, and geopolitical uncertainty.
The February estimate comes in much lower than the
BLS’ now-revised gain of 126,000 jobs added in January,
which was much higher than the agency’s revised figures
for 2025, when US employers added only 181,000 jobs
throughout the entire year, or about 15,000 a month.
“The weak jobs report challenges the recent stabilization
narrative and puts the Fed in a difficult position, especially
as the spike in oil prices adds near ‑ term inflation
pressure,” said Angelo Kourkafas, Senior Global Strategist
at Edward Jones. “With global geopolitical uncertainty
elevated, it is reasonable to expect that job growth may
remain subdued in the months ahead.”
Employment in health care fell along with jobs in the
federal government and the information sector.
Employment in other industries, including construction,
manufacturing, and trade, was little changed over the
month, the BLS said.
See:
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_03062026.ht
m
and
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/us-shed-92000-jobs-
unemployment-ticked-up-to-44-in-february/ar-
AA1XEUKr?ocid=BingNewsVerp
Iran war spikes inflation fears for US consumers
The University of Michigan's preliminary consumer
sentiment reading for March 2026 came in at 55.5, a
modest 1.9% decline from February's 56.6 and the lowest
level in three months. But the headline number masks a
much sharper deterioration beneath the surface: roughly
half of the survey interviews were conducted before US
military action in Iran began, and half afterward. The split
reveals a very different story.
Interviews completed after the strikes began came in
sharply lower and with rising inflation concerns — a
divergence that Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne
Hsu said was driven almost entirely by the Iran conflict.
“Prior to the conflict, sentiment had been improving.
Then, as soon as that conflict began, all the interviews
thereafter came in lower — same thing with gas price
expectations,” Hsu said.
Among respondents interviewed after the conflict began,
year-ahead inflation expectations climbed from 3.3% to
3.5%, while long-run expectations rose from 3.1% to
3.3%—an early sign that rising gasoline prices may be
reshaping the inflation outlook. The damage extended
beyond energy prices.
Expectations for personal finances fell 7.5% nationally
month over month—a broad-based decline that Hsu said
cut across income, age and political affiliation. Labor
market views continued a year-long deterioration, with
consumers broadly expecting unemployment to rise and
reporting elevated probabilities of losing their own jobs.
See: https://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/
and
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/consumer-
sentiment-declined-this-month-per-michigan-survey/ar-
AA1YyICA?ocid=BingNewsVerp
Manufacturing expands for a second consecutive
month, but wood and furniture continue to lag
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in
February for the second straight month but only the third
time in 40 months, say the nation's supply executives in
the latest ISM Manufacturing PMI Report.
"The Manufacturing PMI registered 52.4% in February, a
0.2-percentage point decrease compared to the reading of
52.6% in January. The overall economy continued in
expansion for the 16th month. A Manufacturing PMI
above 50% indicates expansion.
However, the Wood Products and the Furniture & Related
Products sectors continue to contract. In February the two
industries were among five reporting losses for the month
while 12 industries, including four of the six largest
sectors, reported expansion, said one machinery
manufacturer, "Tariff policy changes affect total
acquisition costs and purchasing source decisions. So far
this year, tariff instability still exists.
Due to the tariffs, most raw materials used in
manufacturing, such as steel and wire, need to be sourced
domestically, and the cost keeps going up."
See:
https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-
industry-news/manufacturing-pmi-524-wood-and-furniture-
contract
Cabinet sales drop sharply in January
Cabinet manufacturers reported a weak start to 2026 as
overall cabinet sales fell 11.7% in January compared to the
same month in 2025, according to the Kitchen Cabinet
Manufacturers Association's January Trend of Business
report.
The responding companies in the survey reported overall
sales of US$155.5 million for January, a 2.4% decline
from the previous month. In the year-over-year
comparison, January custom sales were down 10.7% at
US$40.8 million, semi-custom sales fell 10.4% to
US$89.2 million, and stock sales fell 17.6% to US$25.4
million. Respondents reported cabinet quantity for the
month fell 16.3% compared to January 2025.
See: https://kcma.org/insights/january-2026-trend-business-
report
Senate passes major housing affordability bill
The US Senate passed legislation on an 89-10 vote
designed to improve housing affordability and availability
through deregulation, expanding old programs and
banning institutional investors from buying single-family
homes beyond a certain point.
Many of the bill's provisions are meant to boost the United
States' housing supply. According to an NPR report, the
typical home sold in the US, — priced around
US$400,000, is well above what the median family can
afford. The housing shortage is responsible for much of
that cost, since limited supply increases prices.
One estimate from Realtor.com puts the shortfall between
available units and demand at 4 million.
"If we want to bring down the cost of housing, we've got
to build a lot more," said co-sponsor Elizabeth Warren of
Massachusetts. "And what I love about this bill is that it
has more than 40 different provisions in it, all of which
aim in the same direction, which is to give a push toward
building more housing."
The bipartisan bill combines elements of the House-passed
Housing for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 6644) and the
Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to
Housing Act (S. 2651), which passed the Senate as an
amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2026. The bill also adds several new sections
that were not included in either House or Senate housing
packages.
According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the 21st
Century ROAD to Housing Act includes 18 sections from
both the House and Senate bills and at least 26 sections
that incorporate previously introduced bipartisan
legislation.
Following the Senate's passage of the 21st Century ROAD
to Housing Act on March 12, the legislation now moves
back to the House of Representatives for reconciliation.
Because the Senate added major new provisions—most
notably a ban on large institutional investors—the two
chambers must agree on a single, identical version of the
bill before it can be sent to President Donald Trump to be
signed into law.
See:
https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-
industry-news/senate-passes-major-housing-affordability-bill
US launches new tariff reviews for sawnwood,
plywood and furniture imports
The US Department of Commerce has launched a new
administrative review of trade duties on several imported
wood products, placing Canadian sawnwood exporters and
Chinese wood product manufacturers under renewed
scrutiny. The review, announced on 9 March, covers
imports made during the 2025 calendar year, with final
results expected by January 31, 2027. Three product
categories are included in the investigation: Canadian
softwood sawnwood, certain hardwood plywood from
China and wooden bedroom furniture exports from China,
all of which are already subject to antidumping measures
under existing US trade rules.
Canadian softwood sawnwood exporters currently face a
combined antidumping and countervailing duty rate of
35.19%, a sharp increase from 14.4% recorded in earlier
reviews. US producers, represented by the US Sawnwood
Coalition, continue to support the duties, arguing they are
necessary to counter policies that they claim allow
Canadian suppliers to maintain an artificially large share
of the US market and put pressure on domestic production
and jobs.
The review will also examine Chinese hardwood plywood
and wooden bedroom furniture exports, which have been
facing growing market pressure. The United States
remains the largest destination for Chinese wooden
furniture exports, accounting for around 27% of
shipments. However, export performance weakened in
2025 as volumes fell by 7.1% to 129.4 million units while
export value dropped 20% to about US$5.6 billion,
reflecting lower demand and falling prices.
Officials said only a limited number of exporters may be
selected for detailed examination based on import data and
submitted questionnaires. The outcome of the review will
determine whether current duty rates remain in place or
are adjusted, a decision that could influence trade flows in
the global wood and furniture industry in the coming
years.
See:
https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-
industry-news/commerce-launches-2025-wood-product-tariff-
review
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