Quikrete Industry Dashboard
The latest version of the Quikrete Industry Dashboard shows a significant gain for the Consumer Confidence Index, for the second month in a row.
Since May, the index from the New York-based Conference Board rose from 102.5 to 110.1. in June, to 117.0 in the most recent reading in July (1985=100).
“Consumer confidence rose in July 2023 to its highest level since July 2021, reflecting pops in both current conditions and expectations,” said Dana Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board. “Headline confidence appears to have broken out of the sideways trend that prevailed for much of the last year. Greater confidence was evident across all age groups, and among both consumers earning incomes less than $50,000 and those making more than $100,000.”
Additionally, consumers were more optimistic about the short-term business conditions outlook in July. The Conference Board’s research shows:
- 17.1% of consumers expect business conditions to improve, up from 14.6%.
- Meanwhile, 14.0% expect business conditions to worsen, down from 17.7% in June.
Elsewhere on the Quikrete Industry Dashboard, the price of a gallon of regular increased 13 cents in a single week, according to the American Automobile Association. The national average stands at $3.71.
A year ago, the average price of a gallon of gas was $4.30.
# # #
Coming next: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on August 4 will release its report showing the national unemployment rate. Currently, the figure stands at 3.6 percent, and has shown very little movement in recent months.
