Every two weeks, we prepare a report focused on understanding market intelligence and analyzing construction industry data and trends.
This week is our 100th Volume, and we'd like to say thank you for the continued support of our construction industry intelligence efforts.
This in-depth report is developed primarily for internal distribution, but because we want to keep construction professionals like you informed about the industry, we make this report available to anyone who's interested in reading it.
What's New In This Report?
Highlights
CPI-U, which measures inflation, declined 0.1% in December 2018, after remaining unchanged in November 2018.
The Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) projected annual spending for home improvements and repairs to grow 7.2% in Q1 2019 reaching $340B..
Construction Update
In December 2018, construction final demand prices and construction industry goods saw growth of 5.1% and 3.5%, respectively, from their year-ago values.
The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) reached 151.9 in December 2018, 4.9% below the revised November score of 159.7 but 0.3% above its year-ago score.
Economic Update
In December 2018, the unemployment rate rose to 3.9% after adding 312K jobs, with 38K added in the Construction Industry.
Thirty-nine of 51 large MSAs (1M+ population) showed year-over-year unemployment rate decreases in November 2018 with Ames, IA showing the lowest unemployment rate of 1.2%.
