Quikrete Industry Dashboard

The latest edition of Quikrete Industry Dashboard shows some big, positive numbers emanating from hardware and building supply stocks on Wall Street. Lowe’s is up more than 50% compared to a year ago. Meanwhile, Builders FirstSource and BMC are both up more than 20% for the month.

Nowhere on the Dashboard is the impact of the pandemic more dramatic than the unemployment chart. The national unemployment rate in July stands at 10.2%, that's down from 11.1% in June. A year ago, the unemployment rate was 3.7%.

Coming soon: The U.S. Census Bureau will report monthly sales figures on Aug. 14. Housing starts and existing home sales will be released the following week, Aug. 18 and Aug. 21, respectively.