The MDM Monthly Wholesale Forecast was little changed in January as the overall economic outlook for the wholesale distribution industry remains strong for 2022. These mostly positive indicators are happening partially because of inflation rates at 40-year highs. “Last month we were at 9.9% for the 2022 overall forecast, and now we’re at 10.9%,” says […]
Category: inflation
January Materials Prices Jump 20%
Prices of construction materials rose more than 20% from January 2021 to January 2022, according to an Associated General Contractors of America analysis of government data. “Unfortunately, there has been no letup early this year in the extreme cost runup that contractors endured in 2021,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “They are apparently […]
Wholesale Inflation Up 9.7% in January
January wholesale inflation was 9.7% higher than the same period a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s producer price index. The PPI, a metric that measures inflation before it reaches consumers, rose 1% in January compared to the previous month. The January increase follows jumps of 0.4% in December 2021 and 0.9% […]
Wholesale Trade Has Record Year: $7.1 Trillion in Sales, 22% Above 2020
Wholesale trade experienced more than $7.1 trillion in sales in 2021, a greater than 22% increase over 2020 when the industry recorded just over $5.8 trillion in revenues, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday. It was a record year for the industry, also besting the last pre-pandemic year of 2019, which saw roughly $6.1 trillion […]
Wholesale Trade’s Record Year: Sales Increase 22% to $7.1 Trillion
Wholesale trade experienced more than $7.1 trillion in sales in 2021, a greater than 22% increase over 2020 when the industry recorded just over $5.8 trillion in revenues, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday. It was a record year for the industry, also besting the last pre-pandemic year of 2019, which saw roughly $6.1 trillion […]
BLS: Inflation Reaches 40-Year High
U.S. inflation jumped 7.5% over the past year, the highest rate of increase in four decades, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.6% in January on a seasonally adjusted basis, BLS said Thursday. Increases in the indexes for food, electricity and shelter were the largest […]
NAHB: Soaring Costs Lower Housing Affordability
Rising construction costs have dropped housing affordability to its lowest level in a decade, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index released this week. Just over 54% of new and existing homes sold between October and December were affordable to families earning the U.S. median income of $79,900, NAHB said. […]
Momentum, Lingering Headwinds Mark 2022 Distribution Outlook
U.S. distributors recorded a record year in 2021 for revenues while protecting margins — in spite of continued pandemic and supply chain pressures in the back half of 2021. And the outlook for 2022 is positive as economic and market indicators point to “new-normal” disruptors stabilizing. Those are a few of the takeaways from the […]
Wholesale Prices Rose 9.7% in 2021
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says the Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.2% in December, which followed advances of 1% in November and 0.6% in October. On an unadjusted basis, final demand prices moved up 9.7% in 2021, the largest calendar-year increase since data were first calculated in 2010, BLS says. In […]
Consumer Prices Rise 6.8%
The Consumer Price Index rose 6.8% between November 2020 and November 2021, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending June 1982, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Energy prices rose 33.3% over the last year, while food prices increased 6.1%. Gasoline prices rose 58.1%, the largest increase since April 1980. […]
