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Current business highlights

The total value of building permits in Canada rose 1.7 percent in July to $8.1 billion in August, driven by an increase in the residential sector in Ontario and Quebec. Permits issued for single family homes rose 9.9 percent to $2.5 billion, continuing the upward trend observed since May. —Statistics Canada

Total investment in Canadian building construction increased 1.8 percent to $15.1 billion in July. Residential sector investment increased 4.9 percent to $9.9 billion, while non-residential investment decreased 3.7 percent to $5.3 billion. —Statistics Canada

August marked the second consecutive month of revenue growth for U.S. interior design firms. The Interior Design Billings Index (IDBI) score of 52.3 was the highest since October 2019. —ASID

Canada’s Manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) reached 56 in August, a 25-month high. Any score above 50 indicates positive buying intentions. —IHS Markit

U.S. ceramic tile exports through 2Q 2020 rose 2.5 percent by volume from 2Q 2019 year-to-date (YTD). Most of the exports were to Canada (71.9 percent) and Mexico (13.0 percent). —TCNA

Inquiries into new U.S. architectural projects increased to an ABI (Architectural Billings Index) score of 46.0 in August from 41.7 in July. —AIA

The top 10 games apps on the Apple mobile OS in the U.S. recorded an estimated 190,385 cumulative daily installs in September. Clash of Clans ranks top with about 21,667 daily installs. Pokémon GO has the second-highest installs at 21,346 followed by Coin Master with 20,824. Among Us and Candy Crush Saga occupy the fourth and fifth spots at 19,890 and 18,898 respectively. —Stock Apps

This year, people in the Netherlands will drink the most coffee. According to an estimate, per capita consumption of coffee is set to be 8.3 kilograms in the European country. Nordic countries Finland, Sweden and Norway are grouped together behind the Netherlands, followed by Canada at 5 kg per capita. —Statista Consumer Market Outlook

U.S. housing starts in the second quarter were up 21.6 percent over the same period last year. —National Association of Realtors Six European Union countries make up the top ten nations with a highest national debt-to-GDP ratio. From the research, Japan has the highest ratio at 268.21 percent. Greece is second with a ratio of 214.29 percent while the Italy is third at 156.92 percent. The U.S. has the fifth highest debt-to-GDP ratio at 136.69 percent while the U.K. is tenth at 100.87 percent. —Buy Shares

Between the period 2010-2014 and 2015-2019, the total value invested in outer space companies has approximately tripled. From 2015 to last year, nearly $17 billion US of investment was recorded in the sector, compared to the $6 billion US invested between 2000 and 2014. —Tauri Group

According to recent estimates, the U.S. trade show market alone will see exhibition spending drop by $10 billion US this year, a 64-percent decline compared to 2019. Forecasts expect the trade show market to return to 2019 levels by 2024, about $14.5 billion US, despite predictions a steady rebound in exhibition spending will start in 2021. —PwC

The latest edition of the Migrant Acceptance Index has found that several EU countries are among the least accepting countries of migrants globally including Hungary, Croatia, Latvia and Slovakia. Canada was at the top with a score of 8.46 out of a highest-possible value of 9.0. Iceland was named the world’s second most accepting country of migrants with a score of 8.41 while New Zealand rounded off the top-three. The U.S. came in sixth at 7.95. —Gallup

Driven by the Covid-19 baking boom, U.S. demand for egg cartons is forecast to increase 3.6 percent per year to $612 million US (equivalent to 4.7 billion units) in 2024. —Freedonia

The September update the NKBA 2020 Market Outlook revealed that homeowners were giving kitchen and bathroom remodeling a second look, although there was a shift in the price points and methods used to get there. Nearly 1 in 5 (18 percent) of remodels relied solely on family members or friends to get the job done, compared to 6 percent in Q1. An additional 35 percent made exclusive use of DIY, well above the 25 percent for Q1 projects. —NKBA

The global ceramic tiles market size is expected to reach $582.7 billion US by 2027, expanding at a revenue-based CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 6.7 percent, according to a new report. —Grand View Research