Reso 2015-2405 - Laserfiche WebLink

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PRESENTATION OF DATA 19 Incoming signals from District homebuilders were relatively unchanged since the last report. Contacts characterized construction activity as flat from the previous month and new home sales were flat to down slightly over the same period. Most builders indicated that the inventory of unsold homes was flat to slightly up compared with a month earlier. Modest home price appreciation continued to be reported. Builders' outlook for new home sales and construction activity over the next three months was fairly positive, with most indicating that they expect activity to be flat to slightly up. Commercial real estate brokers across the District continued to report improving demand, though they cautioned that the rate of improvement varied by metropolitan area, submarket, and property type. Commercial contractors noted continued strength in apartment construction and that the pace of nonresidential construction activity continued to increase modestly. The outlook among District commercial real estate contacts remains fairly optimistic. Manufacturing and Transportation —District manufacturers indicated that activity was solid, as the strong growth noted in the previous period continued. New orders and production remained at healthy levels, and contacts reported notable increases in employment. Supplier delivery times slowed and commodity prices increased modestly. Optimism among manufacturers rose notably since the last reporting period, with over half of contacts expecting productions levels to increase over the next three to six months. District transportation contacts reported slightly higher activity from late November through December compared with year earlier levels. Trucking and logistics contacts noted significant increases in demand; however, capacity constraints due to a lack of drivers continued to hinder growth. Railroad contacts reported double-digit increases in shipments of grain, petroleum products, metallic ores, and military, machinery and transportation equipment. However, total rail traffic was flat compared with the previous reporting period. Maritime shippers cited significant capital expenditures in vessel capacity, including barges and petroleum tankers, as well as increased investments in LNG-powered ships. District ports experienced significant growth in container traffic compared with the same period last year. The majority of transportation contacts expect higher growth in 2015. Banking and Finance — Credit conditions were largely unchanged from the previous reporting period. Contacts reported large businesses had easy access to credit; small businesses were experiencing small improvements in their ability to access credit. Loan demand increased among most lines of business. Loan pricing and structure remained competitive. Employment and Prices — Businesses reported that the reluctance to hire was waning somewhat in the face of continued increases in demand. In November, Sixth District states added 49,500 net jobs. Job gains were fairly widespread across sectors, though retail contributed the most jobs. The unemployment rate in the Sixth District declined 0.2 percentage point to 6.4 percent in November. Reports of high turnover rates were more prevalent since the previous report, with many firms offering improved benefits, notably health care, as an employee retention device. In addition, the conversion of part-time workers to full-time accelerated as businesses tried to meet increased product demand and Clobus, McLemore & Duke, Inc.