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title: Your April Economic Update
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The PERC Report includes monthly highlights on the most recent economic and plastics industry data along with...

| View in browser The PERC Report includes monthly highlights on the most recent economic and plastics industry data along with recent activities, articles, and blogs which you may have missed. Privately-owned housing starts—the number of privately owned houses on which construction has been started—decreased by 0.8% in March from February.  It was 17.2% below March 2022, according to the latest estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a quarterly basis, housing starts decreased by 0.2% in Q1-2023 from Q4-2022. It was the third consecutive quarter decrease in housing starts. Total housing starts were 1,420,000 units in March—60.6% of which were single family homes. Residential building permits—a leading indicator of residential construction—decreased by 8.8% in March. It was a 24.8% decrease from a year earlier. Dismal residential construction outlook remains for 2023 and will impact plastics manufacturers serving the building and construction market. The Industrial Production Index on construction supplies decreased by 1.8% in March—a 2.8% decrease from a year earlier. The Industrial Production Index for plastics product manufacturing increased by 1.4% in March following a 0.1% decrease in February based on the latest estimates by the Federal Reserve. Plastics production was 3.3% lower in March from a year earlier. It was the fifth consecutive monthly decrease in plastics production. On a quarterly basis, plastics production decreased by 1.0% in the first quarter. The capacity utilization rate in plastics and rubber products manufacturing was 80.0% in March—up marginally from 79.6% in February, but below the 84.6% rate in March last year. Plastics production and capacity utilization pulled back in Q1-2023 in sync with lower manufacturing activity in the economy. For the latest plastics industry data visit: https://www.plasticsindustry.org/data “Economic and Industry Update” Presentation at PLASTICS Spring Meeting Washington, D.C. Plastics Quarterly Forecast – 2023-Q1 On R&D First-Year Full Expensing—Why it Matters for the Plastics Industry and the Macroeconomy Plastics Machinery Shipments Exhibit 2022 Fourth Quarter Increases   Internal and External Factors Continue to Impact U.S. Moldmaking   Pineda: Plastics industry to mirror US GDP growth   Connect with me on Twitter and LinkedIn Plastics Industry Association, 1425 K Street NW Suite #500, Washington, DC 20005, United States, 202.974.5200 Unsubscribe Manage preferences |
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