Quikrete Industry Dashboard - (Week 14, 2025)
The Week 14, 2025 edition of the Quikrete Industry Dashboard shows U.S. average gas prices now sit at $3.26, a sharp increase from last month’s $3.09. However, prices at the pump are still way down compared to last year's nationwide average of $3.56 in early-April 2024, according to AAA's daily data.
This week's Quikrete Industry Dashboard also offers the latest unemployment figures, which outpaced analysts' projections. Approximately 228,000 jobs were added in March, comfortably beating the estimated 140,000 economists were predicting and also outpacing February 2025's total of 117,000. Unemployment rose slightly, however, to 4.2 percent from the previous month's 4.1 percent.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that health care, transportation and warehousing were among the major sectors that added roles in March. It also notes that federal hiring "declined," clarifying that "employees on paid leave or receiving ongoing severance pay are counted as employed in the establishment survey."
Of course, the big news this week was the unveiling of President Trump's tariff plan, which has sent financial shockwaves around the world. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, shared the following statement amid a historic week:
"Wall Street is struggling, but Main Street is managing to hold on so far. Job gains were solid in March, with 228,000 net additions. More Americans also chose to look for jobs, which caused the unemployment rate to tick up to 4.2 percent. The wage growth of 3.8 percent is outpacing consumer price inflation at 2.8 percent. However, keep in mind that the jobs data tends to be a lagging indicator of the economy.
Despite the second consecutive month of reductions in federal government jobs, overall government staffing increased due to local government hiring, primarily in the education sector. Expect further declines in federal jobs in the coming months. Construction jobs rose in the nonresidential sector, while there was a pullback among general contractors in the residential sector.
The future direction of the economy remains uncertain due to tariff wars and potential negotiations. In the meantime, interest rates on FHA and VA loans could soon drop below 6 percent in a matter of days. Rates on conventional and jumbo loans are also declining as money shifts from stocks to bonds. The current job additions and decreasing rates are likely to lead to more home sales. In states with faster job additions, particularly in the Rocky Mountain time zone and the southern states, home sales could increase significantly. Be prepared."
In building materials industry stock news, Beacon (+22.8%), Tractor Supply (+15.9%), Sherwin-Williams (+4.1%) and Home Depot (+2%) are the only stocks on our list that are up over the course of the last year. Over the past month, every stock monitored on the Dashboard except Beacon (+9.5%) and Tractor Supply (+1.6%) dipped.
See the up-to-the minute stock prices of 30 industry companies tracked by HBSDealer here.
