Quikrete Industry Dashboard

The hardware and building supply industry can take comfort in the fact that the three major housing-related charts show activity increasing. Housing starts, single-family housing starts and existing home sales are all up over the prior month.

However, Consumer Confidence for September declined to an index of 125.1 (1985=100).

Here’s what Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators for the Conference Board said about their metric: “Consumer confidence declined in September, following a moderate decrease in August. Consumers were less positive in their assessment of current conditions and their expectations regarding the short-term outlook also weakened. The escalation in trade and tariff tensions in late August appears to have rattled consumers. However, this pattern of uncertainty and volatility has persisted for much of the year and it appears confidence is plateauing. While confidence could continue hovering around current levels for months to come, at some point this continued uncertainty will begin to diminish consumers’ confidence in the expansion.”

Gas prices are up over last month, but down over last year, according to the American Automobile Association’s latest tally.

Next up for the Dashboard is the Employment Situation report for September, slated to be released on Oct. 4