Quikrete Industry Dashboard - (Week 46, 2024)

The Week 46 edition of the Quikrete Industry Dashboard shows U.S. average gas prices continue a downward trajectory ($3.08) from last month ($3.20). Pump prices have receded compared with last year's nationwide average of $3.24 in mid-November 2023, per AAA's data.

This week's Dashboard also reveals that the latest (unadjusted) October sales for NAICS 444 entities totaled $44.901 billion, up sharply from the $40.359 billion tabulated in September. October 2024's figures also outperformed last year's figures from October 2023 ($41.941 billion). Meanwhile, NAICS 44413 (hardware stores) sales figures sank in September ($3.34 billion) compared to August 2024's total of $3.82 billion. 

Overall, U.S. retail sales are picking up steam. As National Retail Federation Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz shared in a press release: 

“October’s pickup in retail sales shows a healthy pace of spending as many consumers got an early start on holiday shopping. October sales were a good early step forward into the holiday shopping season, which is now fully underway. Falling energy prices have likely provided extra dollars for household spending on retail merchandise.”

(See the U.S. Census Bureau's latest retail sales figures here.)