
Core Report | July 03, 2025
The strong surge in buying during the March/April time frame to get ahead of any potential tariff price increases helped to pull demand forward and negatively impact sales in June.
The strong surge in buying during the March/April time frame to get ahead of any potential tariff price increases helped to pull demand forward and negatively impact sales in June.
After sliding the previous two months and in three of the past four months, sales of existing homes increased slightly in May. May existing home sales came in at 4.030 million unit rate, up 0.8% from April but down 0.7% from the 4.060 million unit rate in May 2024.
Freight rates for the trucking transportation industry continued to climb in May, now up for the fourth straight month. The May inferred freight rates (a simple equation of cost of shipments divided by total shipments) increased to 3.143.
Domestic raw steel production increased sharply again last week, now up seven out of the last eight weeks. U.S. mills produced an estimated 1,785k tons at a 79.5% utilization rate; this is up from 1,757k tons and a 78.2% rate previously.