The housing construction market continued its strength in December with starts vaulting 5.8 percent from November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,669,000. Single-family housing starts soared 12 percent, but starts of multifamily housing of five units or more plummeted 15.2 percent. Building permits, an indicator of future construction, rose 4.5 percent last month […]
At least two more automakers with substantial North American operations have cut production because of a global microchip shortage, according to company representatives. Stellantis has scheduled “down time” at an assembly plant in Brampton, Ontario, a company spokeswoman said. The Canadian plant makes the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger cars. The company – […]
Subaru will scale back production of vehicles at its assembly plants in Lafayette, Ind., and in Japan’s Gunma prefecture, because of a semiconductor shortage, a company spokesman said. “We currently expect several thousand units will be affected at each plant,” he said. “We are closely watching the situation and working to minimize the impact on […]
November heating and cooling equipment shipments totaled 1.66 million units, up 36.3 percent from levels one year prior, according to recent data from the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). Total 2020 shipments through November reached 20.4 million units, up 6.3 percent compared to 19.2 million units shipped in the same period of 2019. As […]
By CRU Economist Ippolito Tarabini and Multi-Commodity Analyst Zanna Aleksahhina, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor There is a global semiconductor shortage. It was ignited by strong demand for consumer electronics during the COVID-19 pandemic and it is now threatening auto production around the world. We expect it to reduce global vehicle output by around […]
The U.S. automotive industry showed remarkable resiliency in 2020 despite a production shutdown in March and the most challenging year since the Great Recession. U.S. auto sales ended the year at an estimated 14.6 million units, well below forecasts of 16.7 million, yet incredibly robust amidst a pandemic, high unemployment and an economic recession. U.S. […]
The merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot S.A. (Groupe PSA) was approved last week and is expected to be finalized on Jan. 16. The new company will be called Stellantis and will have a production capacity of 8.7 million vehicles per year. The lineup will include French carmakers Peugeot and Citroen, Jeep, Ram pickups, and […]
Officials at the Associated General Contractors of America provided a troubling outlook for the construction industry for the first half of 2021. Postponement and cancellation of construction jobs, difficulty finding skilled labor, rising material costs, supply shortages and continued costs and challenges associated with COVID-19 suggest that the industry will not return to pre-pandemic levels […]
Home prices rose to an all-time high in October, according to the latest S&P Dow Jones Indices. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index jumped 8.4 percent in October following a 7.0 percent annual gain in September. The 20-City Composite posted a 7.9 percent year-over-year gain, up from 6.6 percent in the […]
Construction spending was heavily weighted toward single-family homebuilding in November, according to an analysis of government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Residential construction soared 2.6 percent last month and 16.2 percent year-over-year, contrasting a 0.6 percent decline in private and public nonresidential spending in November and a 4.7 percent tumble from a […]
New home sales in November slipped 11 percent from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 841,000, reported the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development. The pace of sales continues to outperform the 2019 rate however, up 20.8 percent from November last year. The median sales price in November was $335,300 and […]
Existing home sales fell for the first time in five months, dipping 2.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.69 million. Sales fell or held steady in all regions although remained significantly higher on a year-over-year basis. “Home sales in November took a marginal step back, but sales for all of 2020 are […]
Construction employment remains below pre-pandemic levels in 35 states even though 31 states and D.C. added jobs from October to November, said the Associated General Contractors in an analysis of November government data. “An increase in project cancellations and postponements is forcing nonresidential contractors to lay off workers as they complete projects started before the […]
Housing starts rose 1.2 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,547,000 and were 12.8 percent higher than November 2019. Single-family housing starts flattened in November increasing just 0.4 percent to a rate of 1,186,000. Starts for buildings of five units or more rose 8.0 percent. On a year-to-date basis, single-family construction […]
October heating and cooling equipment shipments increased to 2.08 million units, up 36.3 percent from one year prior, according to recent data from the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). Total October shipments were up 2.5 percent from the previous month. For comparison, June 2020 saw the highest monthly shipment level in Steel Market Update’s […]
The Associated General Contractors of America filed a lawsuit on Wednesday alleging that the Small Business Administration and the Office of Management and Budget secretly crafted an intrusive questionnaire that gathers irrelevant information on business operations to reassess eligibility for Paycheck Protection Program loans. “The administration has every right, and obligation, to ensure businesses were […]
Dodge Data & Analytics reports a decline in project planning for new construction in the nonresidential sector. The latest Dodge Momentum Index fell 2.6 percent in November to 123.3 The institutional component of the index fell 4.4 percent, while the commercial component slid 1.6 percent. “Since the expiration of support programs in the CARES Act, […]
Construction employment gained 27,000 jobs in November due to continued strength in residential home building. Jobs in nonresidential increased at a slower rate due to pandemic-induced project cancellations, said the Associated General Contractors of America. The disparity between residential and nonresidential construction widened in November, said AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson. Residential building and specialty […]
U.S. auto sales slowed in November, dipping to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 15.55 million units from 16.21 million in October, says Wards Intelligence. The decline was attributed primarily to three fewer selling days and one less weekend during the month. “November 2020 is a prime example of why accounting for selling day differences […]
Total construction expenditures on a rolling 12-month basis were at an all-time high in October, but year-over-year growth has slowed from 8.1 percent in February to 0.5 percent in October. Private constriction expenditures returned to positive growth in October after declining in the months June through September. Steel Market Update analyzes Construction Put In Place […]
Only 30 percent of construction firms in the nation’s metro areas added jobs this year, said the Associated General Contractors in a report on Wednesday. Out of 358 metro areas, construction employment fell in 209 areas and was stagnant in 40 others between October 2019 and October 2020. “The pandemic has devastated the finances for […]
Sales of new single-family homes were flat in October, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 999,000 was 0.3 percent below the September revised rate of 1,002,000, although it soared 41.5 percent above the October 2019 estimate. […]
Residential construction spending expanded for the fifth month in October, rising 2.9 percent led by a 5.6 percent jump in single-family home building. Nonresidential construction, however, was flat in October as the private sector worried about the pandemic and budgets remained tight at the state and local levels. Total construction spending for the month was […]
Home prices in September surged to their biggest annual gain in six years, says the latest data from S&P Case-Shiller. The S&P Core-Logic Case-Shiller National Home Price NSA Index jumped 7 percent from a 5.8 percent gain in August. “Housing prices were notably – I am tempted to say ‘very’ – strong in September,” said […]
Construction employment is still below pre-pandemic levels in three-fourths of the nation, reveals the latest data analysis by the Associated General Contractors of Americas. Although 36 states added new construction jobs in October, the seasonally adjusted number was lower than in February before the pandemic took hold. “An increasing number of nonresidential contractors are experiencing […]
Existing home sales continued to soar in October, marking five straight months of gain. Sales increased 4.3 percent from September and 26.6 percent from a year ago. Median price for an existing home jumped 16 percent year-over-year to $313,000 and most homes on the market sold in less than a month. Inventory continued to decline, […]
Housing starts exceeded expectations in October, jumping 4.9 percent from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,530,000 following a revision to 1,459,000 in September. Starts were up 14.2 percent from the October 2019 rate. Single-family construction led the way with a monthly increase of 6.4 percent. Construction starts for multifamily buildings of five […]
September heating and cooling equipment shipments totaled 2.03 million units, up 28.3 percent from the same month one year ago, according to recent data from the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). Total September shipments declined 3.0 percent from the previous month, but the market is coming down from a recent record-high; June 2020 saw […]
Planning for nonresidential construction projects continued to slow in October, says Dodge Data & Analytics. The Dodge Momentum Index fell 1.8 percent last month to 127.5 following a revised September reading of 129.8. The Index is a monthly measure of the first report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which have been shown to lead […]
Construction employment increased by 84,000 jobs in October, with jobs added in both nonresidential and residential categories, according to an analysis of government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials cautioned, however, that the pandemic is causing a growing number of construction projects to be canceled or delayed, according to a survey […]