Minus figures in USA

Last year saw the DIY market in the USA contract by nearly nine per cent to a volume of US $ 268.6 bn. This is an estimate published by the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA). The DIY stores accounted for US $ 167.3 bn of the total, or around 6.2 per cent less than 2008. Shortfalls were considerably higher in the timber and building materials trade, where sales of US $ 65.3 bn represent a decline of approximately 15.9 per cent. The hardware dealers got off relatively lightly, recording a sales volume of US $ 36 bn, which represents a drop of 4.0 per cent.
A detailed report in English on the development of the US market can be found at DIYplus under the Trade Topics heading (v. below: Other articles on this topic).