BlueTarp Q2 Building Supply Index falls
BlueTarp Financial, the Portland, Maine-based credit management company for B2B suppliers, reported that its second quarter 2019 Building Supply Index declined.
The second quarter index dropped from 139.06 in Q2 2018 to 137.20 and the trailing 12-month average has been flat, to slightly down, since peaking in Q3 2018.
Values below 100 on the index reflect recessionary or recovering performance. Values above 100 reflect healthy economic activity.
“Just like the macro drivers, contractor sentiment is strong overall but increasingly jittery,” said Scott Simpson, CEO of BlueTarp. “The escalation, of U.S.-China trade tensions, suggests a real threat to continued economic expansion. We’ll see more pronounced pessimism in next quarter’s survey if this continues or escalates even further. The 2020 election cycle introduces yet another variable, too.”
The report represents trends from 120,000 pro customers and over 1,000 active building material suppliers across the United States. It also incorporates macro-economic drivers including building permits, construction spend, and consumer confidence as reported monthly by the Census Bureau and the Conference Board.
The second quarter index dropped from 139.06 in Q2 2018 to 137.20 and the trailing 12-month average has been flat, to slightly down, since peaking in Q3 2018.
In BlueTarp’s supplemental contractor survey, nearly 25% of contractors thought that the economy would decline in some way within the next 12 months, an increase from 16.3% last quarter. Respondents cited the 2020 election as one of the causes of greater uncertainty.
Values below 100 on the index reflect recessionary or recovering performance. Values above 100 reflect healthy economic activity.
“Just like the macro drivers, contractor sentiment is strong overall but increasingly jittery,” said Scott Simpson, CEO of BlueTarp. “The escalation, of U.S.-China trade tensions, suggests a real threat to continued economic expansion. We’ll see more pronounced pessimism in next quarter’s survey if this continues or escalates even further. The 2020 election cycle introduces yet another variable, too.”
The report represents trends from 120,000 pro customers and over 1,000 active building material suppliers across the United States. It also incorporates macro-economic drivers including building permits, construction spend, and consumer confidence as reported monthly by the Census Bureau and the Conference Board.