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Both new and existing home sales rose this month at seven- and six-year highs, respectively. New home sales Sales of new single-family houses in May 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 546,000. This is 2.2 percent above the April rate of 534,000 and 19.5 percent above the May 2014 estimate of 457,000. This is the highest level ...

Boat sales continued to grow in May, but at a slower pace than earlier this year, according to the latest Info-Link Bellwether report. Sales were up by about 8 percent on a rolling 12-month basis in the Bellwether states, lower than the 10 percent rate of earlier this year. The Bellwether report tracks boat sales across the country based on ...

Employment is on the up side. Employers are actively looking. Offers are getting better. Even so, many find themselves “stuck” where they are with no light at the end of the tunnel. Getting ahead eludes them; knowing how to make things happen isn’t easy. Keeping your fingers crossed that a rising economic tide will take care of you or that ...

Builder confidence is on the rise this month, while housing starts are reporting year-over-year gains amid monthly declines. Housing Market Index The Housing Market Index rose five points in June to 59, the highest reading for the index since September 2014. All three components of the HMI posted gains in June. The component gauging current sales conditions jumped seven points ...

Volvo Penta’s Forward Drive (FWD) created a buzz in the industry when it was first introduced in February at the Miami International Boat Show (MIBS). By combining a sterndrive engine, DuoProps and Volvo Penta’s Inboard Performance System (IPS), the company was able to create a forward-facing DuoProp drive that moves the prop more than 27 inches forward under the boat. ...

The number of job openings increased in April from 5.0 million to 5.4 million, leading to a record-high report in the history of the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. However, unemployment remained fairly steady this month. Both the number of unemployed persons and the unemployment rate have shown little movement since February, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.  ...

Much like beginning a new workout plan, digital marketing can be very intimidating, so much so that some businesses never bother to start even though they know they should. After all, digital is where the customers are now and they search businesses online way before they ever set foot into a dealership. However, by starting one step at a time ...

Sales of freshwater fishing boats continue to grow, but the segment isn’t just benefitting from anglers. With innovative design and consumer preferences for outboard power, many manufacturers are seeing the fishing boat replace the fiberglass I/O as the de facto family runabout. “Reality is there are a lot of people that fish, [and] there are a lot of people that ...

Finding alternative fuels that work for boating The Congressionally mandated U.S. Renewable Fuels Standard requires 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel to be blended into the gasoline supply by 2022. As of now, the only biofuel being blended is ethanol, with a push to increase the amount of ethanol in the fuel supply through blends such as E15. The boating ...

Manufacturers create products and standards for fuel additives The presence of ethanol in fuel has influenced much of what the fuel additives market has chosen to offer its customers, and it is important for the whole industry to play ball and make sure consumers are buying the right products to provide the right solutions. In order for the consumer to ...