Recent Updates
- US: Kansas City Fed Mfg Survey (May)
- US: Pending Home Sales Index (Apr)
- US: GDP and Corporate Profits (Q1, 2nd release)
- Canada: Retail Trade, Payroll Employment (Mar)
- South Africa: PPI (Apr) Government Debt (Apr-Prelim)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index Dips in May But Remains Strong
The Kansas City Fed reported that its manufacturing sector business activity index declined to 23 in May...
U.S. Pending Home Sales Decline Sharply in April
Home buying remains under pressure...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Eased Slightly in the Latest Week
Initial claims for unemployment insurance filed in the week ended May 21 were 210,000 (-52.4% y/y)...
U.S. Durable Goods Orders Increase Modestly in April
Manufacturers' new orders for durable goods increased 0.4% during April (12.2% y/y)...
U.S. Mortgage Applications Continue to Weaken
The MBA Loan Applications Index fell 1.2% (-54.5% y/y) in the week ended May 20...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
State Coincident Indexes in April 2022
State Labor Markets in April 2022
Profits & Margins Plunge In Q1: Expect More Margin Contraction As Fed Squeezes Inflation
The Many Links of Inflation Cycle: Hard Landing Is Needed to Crack Them
Peak Inflation and Fed Policy: A Relationship which Should Worry the Fed and Scare Investors
by Tom Moeller January 4, 2012
Supply uncertainties recently increased petroleum prices. The price for a barrel of light sweet crude rose last week to $99.77 and remained up sharply from $79.71 averaged during the first week of October. Yesterday, the price jumped further to $102.96. Prices peaked at $113.93 in late-April. Brent crude also rose last week to $108.71 per barrel and was $110.49 yesterday. Prices peaked earlier at $126.21.
The pump price for regular gasoline rose another four cents to $3.30 per gallon last week following the prior week's three cent gain. Retail prices usually decline this time of year with reduced seasonal demand. To account for this pattern, Haver Analytics calculates seasonal factors. As a result, the adjusted gasoline price held steady w/w at $3.64. Yesterday, the wholesale price for a gallon of unleaded was $2.78 versus last week's average of $2.71.
Natural gas prices recently have been under notable downward pressure. Last week's price of $3.02 per mmbtu was down roughly one-quarter y/y and fell further yesterday to $2.96. Prices remained lower versus early-January 2010 peak of $6.50.
Gasoline demand recently fell 5.6% on average versus last year. Demand for residual fuel oil, used for heating, declined 15.0% y/y but distillate demand rose 2.9%. Inventories of crude oil and petroleum products fell 3.3 % year-to-year compared to 10.0% growth in the middle of 2009.
The energy price data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy and can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database. The daily figures are in DAILY and the gasoline demand figures are in OILWKLY
Weekly Price | 01/02/12 | 12/26/11 | 12/19/11 | Y/Y% | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Retail Regular Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 3.30 | 3.26 | 3.23 | 7.5 | 3.52 | 2.78 | 2.35 |
Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl.) | 99.77 | 97.80 | 95.79 | 9.9 | 95.14 | 79.51 | 61.39 |
Natural Gas ($/mmbtu) | 3.02 | 3.01 | 3.09 | -27.2 | 3.99 | 4.40 | 3.95 |