Market Insights

Here’s an actual email from Home Channel News freelance editor Ken Ryan, after he completed research and writing duties for our “Second Annual Hardware All-Stars: Fifty Stores in Fifty States” project:

“Thanks for the assignment. It was fun to do.”

Fun? That guy has a great attitude, because we didn’t make it easy on him — or any of the other editors working on the project.

The U.S. Census Bureau announced Monday that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for March, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $411.1 billion, an increase of 0.8% from the previous month.           

Compared with the same month last year, sales were up 6.5%.

There are nearly 300,000 annual emergency room visits in America due to workplace eye injuries, but many workers don't like to wear eye gear.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had increased in February, pulled back slightly in March. The Index now stands at 70.2 (1985=100), down from 71.6 in February. The Present Situation Index, however, increased to 51.0 from 46.4. The Expectations Index declined to 83.0 from 88.4 in February.

Beginning in Alabama and sparkling up the alphabet all the way to Wyoming, the HCN Hardware Store All-Star class of 2014 — “50 stores in 50 states” — are laid out in our special report.

Advance monthly retail sales for January increased 0.4% to $401.4 billion, according to data released this morning by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The January 2012 figure, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, is up 5.8% compared with the sales estimate from January 2011.

Although total starts declined, last week's construction data from the U.S. Commerce Department showed the third-straight month of single-family gains.

The National Association of Home Builders emphasized the positive trends occurring in the single-family market. Nationwide production of new single-family homes rose 4.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 470,000 units in December, according to the data.

A poll asks for readers’ positions on the Mortgage Interest Deduction.