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.
The most recent update on the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage stands at 7.3% as of November 26th, reflecting a decline from 7.8% on October 26th. This decrease follows a peak not seen since November 2000.
Based on the University of Michigan's monthly consumer survey, there was a slight decrease in consumer sentiment from 63.8 in September to 61.3 in October. However, this still marks an 8.1% year-over-year increase.
In October, manufacturers' new orders for durable goods saw a reduction in gains, decreasing by 5.4% from the 5.0% increase reported in September.
Total housing starts, representing the initiation of construction on privately owned houses, continued their upward trend for the second consecutive month in October, marking a 1.9% increase following September's 3.1% spike.
The Industrial Production Index decreased slightly from 103.4 in September to 102.7 in October. Similarly, the Manufacturing Industrial Production Index dropped from 100.3 in September to 99.6 in October.
The Producer Price Index for plastics material and resin manufacturing continued its year-over-year decline in October, dropping by 10.8% since its descent began in August 2022.
In October, capacity utilization in plastics and rubber products manufacturing decreased to 75.4% from 77.2% in September, marking the lowest rate since the 66.0% recorded at the conclusion of the COVID-19 recession in April 2020.
October witnessed a loss of 3,100 jobs in plastics and rubber products manufacturing. However, the unemployment rate in this sector decreased to 0.9%.
The dollar value of third-quarter shipments for primary plastics machinery, including injection molding and extrusion, decreased by 1.5% from the previous quarter.
During the third quarter, U.S. exports of recyclable plastic materials decreased by 9.0% in dollar value and by 5.9% in million kilograms from the second quarter. Conversely, imports of these same commodities increased by 2.7% in dollar value and 8.5% in million kilograms.
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