Articles

The truth of the matter is that for many aspects of residential construction such as framing, tiling and finish carpentry, construction techniques haven’t changed a lot over the years. A recent academic paper titled “The Strange and Awful Path of Productivity in the U.S. Construction Sector” points out that while labor productivity has doubled across the U.S. economy over the past 50 years, it has been falling or, at best, stagnant for the construction sector. Read More

Lowe’s announced Q4 2022 sales were $22.4 billion, a 5% increase compared to $21.3 billion in Q4 2021. Comparable sales for Q4 decreased 1.5%, and comparable sales for the U.S. home improvement business decreased 0.7%. Read More

Declining mortgage rates and home prices in January, coupled with home builders use of sales incentives, helped boost new home sales last month. Read More

Personal income increased $131.1 billion, or 0.6 percent at a monthly rate, while consumer spending increased $312.5 billion, or 1.8 percent, in January. Read More

While the two main confidence indexes for multifamily housing increased slightly in Q4, they both remained in negative territory, according to results from the Multifamily Market Survey (MMS) released by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Read More

The Home Depot announced sales for Q4 2022 were $35.8 billion, a 0.3% increase from Q4 2021’s $35.7 million. Read More

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022, after increasing 3.2 percent in the third quarter. Read More

Total construction starts fell 27% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $865.6 billion, according to Dodge Construction Network. During the month, nonresidential building starts fell 38%, residential starts lost 20%, and nonbuilding starts declined by 16% Read More

The global ceramics market size is anticipated to reach USD 359.35 billion by 2030 registering a 5.2% CAGR from 2023 to 2030. The rising penetration of ceramics in the medical and construction industries is anticipated to propel market growth in the forecast period. Read More

The resilient flooring category, which is nearing $7 billion in sales annually, is showing no signs of slowing down in 2023 despite some broader economic headwinds, according to a panel of resilient flooring exerts who spoke at The International Surfaces Event in Las Vegas. Read More