The Consumer confidence index increased by 2.4 points in May according to the Conference Board. The index now stands at 128.0. Bloomberg reports that a strong job market influenced the views on the current state of the economy, as the labor market continues to post impressive gains and workers remain confident about their future. On [...]
On a three month moving average, (3MMA) basis, May total carbon steel shipments averaged 113,166 tons per day, climbing 4.9% year on year, (y/y). Bar and Shapes and Plate shipments led the advance, both recording a 3.9% and percentage increase y/y. Table 1 shows percentage change results for shipments, daily intake and inventory level. In [...]
May’s ABI national overall score of 52.8 was up 0.8 points from April’s 52.0 but still in the expansionary zone, (>50). U.S. architecture firms with emphasis on commercial and/or institutional specialization reported exceptional strong billings. Regionally activity was especially strong in the Southern region. The new projects inquiry index came in at 59.3, up 2.7 [...]
The dollar Broad Index posted a reading of 97.95 for May, up 2.7% month on month. On a twelve moving average, (12MMA) year on year, (y/y) comparison, the dollar was down 1.6% against the Broad Index. Figure 1 shows the track of the Broad Index from 2000 to present. Year on year, the U.S. Dollar [...]
The May Bureau of Labor Statistics producer prices index, (PPI), all commodities PPI, rose 1.6% for the highest m/m gain since January 2017. On a 12 month year on year, (y/y) comparison, the all commodities PPI rose 4.3%. Inflation beyond the 2% annual goal by the Federal Reserve will likely result in an interest rate [...]
U.S. national Portland cement shipments in March totaled 7.935 million, (Mt) short tons. For the three months total (3MMT), ending March, cement shipments were up 2.8% year on year, (y/y). Figure 1 presents a map of the U.S. by census region. The tonnage values are in 3MMT and the percentage change is 3MMT y/y. Green [...]
In May there were good gains in both construction and manufacturing. The total number of seasonally adjusted (SA), non-farm people employed in the U.S. in May was 148.662 million (M), a relatively flat increase of 0.15% month on month, (m/m). Over the past 12 months the U.S. economy has added 1.77M jobs, or +1.7% for [...]
The total tonnage for the week ending June 9th was 1,753 million tons, (Mt) at a capacity utilization rate of 74.8%. For the first 23 weeks of 2018, total tonnage output was 40,567 Mt, at an average capacity utilization rate of 75.5%. In 2017, the same 12 weeks production total was 39,885 Mt at 73.7%. [...]
Data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), shows that total light (cars and light truck/SUVs), vehicle sales in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, (SAAR) of 12.346 million (M), units, down 55,000 units or 0.4% from March. Figure 1 shows the history of light vehicle sales (domestic plus imports), from 2010 to [...]
he Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing composite index fell 1.8 points month on month, (m/m) to a still very strong 58.6 in May. The indexes is off strong start in 2018, up 2.7% 3MMA y/y. The strong advance in the index points to continued growth in the nonmanufacturing segment as the fundamentals remain strong [...]
