The Quikrete Industry Dashboard

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey showed that on an unadjusted basis, the retail category of building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (NAICS 444) in November posted a 5.1 percent decline compared to the previous month, and a 3.7 percent increase compared to the same month of 2021.

In the hardware store category (NAICS 44413), October is  the latest month for which sales data is available. Hardware stores showed a gain for both the month and the year.

On an unadjusted basis, hardware store sales were at $3.48 billion in October, up from $3.13 billion in October of 2021, and up from $3.37 billion in September 2022.  

Those monthly sales figures are the highlights of the latest Quikrete Industry Dashboard, which also shows a volatile stock roundup from Wall Street. Ticker symbols are dispersed across all four quadrants. Leading the way is DE, which is up 5 percent for the month and up 26 percent for the year.

Gas prices are also showing movement. According to the American Automobile Association, the average price for a gallon of regular as of Dec.  15 slipped too $3.18, down from $3.74 in the prior month, and down from $3.32 a year ago.

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Coming next: Residential construction data from the U.S. Census Bureau will be released Dec. 20, featuring total starts and single-family starts for the month of November.

Since 2011, total housing starts have risen steadily, from 608,800 in 2011 to the 2021 total of 1,601,000. 

So far this year, after 10 months of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, there have been 1,348,000 total housing starts, a figure that is just slightly ahead of the first 10 months of 2021 (1,346,100).

Also next week, on Dec. 21, the National Association of Realtors will release the existing home sales number.