Quikrete Industry Dashboard

The latest version of the weekly Quikrete Industry Dashboard charts the volatility of Wall Street. Three of the ten ticker symbols are in the black for the month and the year: BLDR, BECN and TSCO.  Trailing the field are HD and SHW.

Meanwhile, the average price for a gallon of regular is $3.44, up from $3.28 a month ago, according to the American Automobile Association’s latest measure.

Elsewhere on the Dashboard, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week morning that the unemployment rate improved to 3.4. percent in January, compared to 3.5 percent in December. A year ago, the stat stood at 4.0 percent.

Also on the latest version of the Industry dashboard, the Consumer Confidence Index declined to 107.1, down from 109.0 last month. A year ago, the index stood at 111.1.

“Consumers’ assessment of present economic and labor market conditions improved at the start of 2023,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director, economics at The Conference Board.  “However, the Expectations Index retreated in January reflecting their concerns about the economy over the next six months.”

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Coming next: The U.S. Department of Commerce will release its monthly residential construction report for January on Feb. 16. In the December report, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of total starts stood at 1.382 million, a decline from 1.401 million in the prior month. Single-family starts in December were at a pace of 909,000, up from 817,000 in November.