The one-and-only Quikrete Industry Dashboard

The latest Employment Situation Report, released this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is the biggest key metric to be updated on the Quikrete Industry Dashboard.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 199,000 in November as the unemployment rate declined to 3.7% compared to 3.9% in October.

But the latest figures are inflated with manufacturing employment increasing by 28,000 jobs in November, reflecting an increase of 30,000 in motor vehicles and parts as workers returned from a strike. Otherwise, employment in manufacturing saw little net change over the year.

The Bureau reports that retail employment declined by 38,000 positions in November and has shown little net change over the year. Employment decreased in department stores (-19,000) and in furniture, home furnishings, electronics, and appliance retailers (-6,000) over the month. 

In contrast, government employment increased by 49,000 jobs last month. 

Employment in the overall construction sector increased by just 2,000 jobs in November, following a gain of 25,000 hires in October. Residential construction added 1,000 jobs and non-residential construction employment added 1,400 jobs for the month.

Residential construction employment stood at 3.3 million in November, broken down as 934,000 builders and 2.4 million residential specialty trade contractors, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said. The 6-month moving average of job gains for residential construction was 6,717 a month. 

According to the NAHB, home builders and remodelers added 53,000 jobs on a net basis during the past 12 months. Since the low point following the Great Recession, residential construction has gained 1,321,500 positions.

In November, the unemployment rate for construction workers rose 0.6 percentage points to 5.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis. It marks the highest rate since July 2021 and has been trending up in the past five months.

Most of the companies tracked on the Quikrete Industry Dashboard saw stock prices rise on both a monthly and year-over-basis. Trading of Stanley Black & Decker closed out Dec. 7 at $93.15, 19% ahead of its share price a year ago.

At gas stations, the national average price for a gallon of regular fuel was down to $3.19 per gallon compared to $3.40 last month, according to AAA.