Quikrete Industry Dashboard

Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for February 2024 climbed 0.6% to $700.7 billion, the Census Bureau reported earlier this week.

That's the major metric with movement in the latest Quikrete Industry Dashboard.

Total sales for the December 2023 through February 2024 period were up 2.1% from the same period a year ago. The December 2023 to January 2024 percent change was revised from down 0.8% to down 1.1%. 

Retail trade sales were up 0.6% from January 2024, and up 0.8% above last year. 

NAICS 444 sales — advanced sales for building material and garden supplies dealers — increased 2.2% but are down 6.1% from February 2023.

Estimates of January 2024 sales at hardware stores — NAICS 4413 — increased nearly 10% to $3 billion from January 2023 sales of $2.73 billion.

On Wall Street, shares of Lowe's moved forward by 9% in the last month, as of March 14, while Sherwin-Williams stock prices increased by 7.7% on a month-over-month basis.

Gas prices continue to ascend a well.

On March 15, AAA reported that the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline hit a cost of about $3.44 per gallon, up from $3.28 one month ago. On a year-over-year basis, prices are catching up to the March 15, 2023 price of just under $3.47 per gallon.  

The average price of diesel fuel has ticked downward to $4.035 per gallon on March 15 from a price of $4.099 last month.

The week of March 18 through March 22 is a busy week for major metrics with the release of the latest figures for builder confidence, housing starts and permits, and existing home sales.