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.
