Quikrete Industry Dashboard

For the first time since early February of 2021, the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is lower than the year-ago price.

On Dec. 8, the average price stood at $3.33, compared to $3.34 last year, according to data collected by the American Automobile Association. That positive economic development is tempered by the fact that the last time this happened, gas was a mere $2.44 per gallon.

The other weekly metric updates are contained on the Stock Roundup, where two of the 10 ticker symbols tracked are on the top-right growth quadrant, indicating gains for the month and the year. DE leads the way in this quadrant, followed by BECN.

All 10 ticker symbols on the Roundup are up for the month, led by SHW, up more than 12 percent.

Elsewhere on the Dashboard, the Consumer Confidence Index decreased in November after also losing ground in October. The Index now stands at 100.2 (1985=100), down from 102.2 in October.

Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, offered a pessimistic take: “Inflation expectations increased to their highest level since July, with both gas and food prices as the main culprits. Intentions to purchase homes, automobiles, and big-ticket appliances all cooled,” Franco said. “The combination of inflation and interest rate hikes will continue to pose challenges to confidence and economic growth into early 2023.”

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Coming next: The U.S. Census Bureau will release its Advanced Monthly Sales report, including NAICS 444 stats for the month of November, on Dec. 15.

Residential construction numbers, including total housing starts and single-family housing starts, are slated for release on Dec. 20. Existing home sales, as reported by the National Association of Realtors, will be released on Dec. 21.

The pace of housing starts has declined for the past two months. Existing home sales, affected by rising interest rates, have declined for the past nine consecutive months.