Quikrete Industry Dashboard

The latest version of the Quikrete Industry Dashboard shows a positive direction for a major metric – housing starts are up more than 12% in August, coming in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.364 million. Data from the Commerce Department shows that that’s the highest rate in more than a decade -- since June of 2007.

Existing home sales also indicate growth – up 1.6% in August to 5.49 million, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Gas prices rose to $2.67 -- full 10 cents increase compared to the previous week, and up 6 cents from the previous month. This increase comes as news swirl around drone attacks on Saudi Arabian oil supply. The average price for a gallon of regular is still down more than 6% from a year ago.