Recent Updates
- US: Kansas City Fed Mfg Survey (May)
- US: Pending Home Sales Index (Apr)
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- Canada: Retail Trade, Payroll Employment (Mar)
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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 March 27, 2012
Pump prices for regular gasoline rose another five cents last week to $3.92 per gallon, their highest since last May. Reduced seasonal demand typically fosters lower gasoline prices this time of year, but they haven't followed the norm. Haver Analytics' seasonally-adjusted price for regular unleaded ticked up to a record $3.95. Yesterday, the wholesale price for a gallon of unleaded was $3.31 versus $3.23 averaged last week.
The price for a barrel of light sweet crude oil ticked up last week to $106.56 and compared to the low of $79.71 this past October. Yesterday, the cost of crude rose further $107.03. Prices peaked at $113.93 last April. Brent crude fell last week to $124.50 per barrel but recovered to $125.80 yesterday.
Natural gas prices rose modestly last week to $2.14 per mmbtu but fell 48.3% y/y. Yesterday prices were $2.17, still nearly the lowest since 2001 and down from the early-January 2010 peak of $6.50.
Demand for gasoline fell 7.8% y/y last week to nearly its lowest level in roughly ten years. The decline reflects fewer miles driven as well as a rise this year in corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards to 33.3 miles per gallon for passenger cars from the low of 27.5. They're slated to rise to 34.2 MPG next year. Also falling with the record warm temperatures were residual fuel oil demand, used for heating, down 46.1% y/y, and distillate demand, off 8.4% y/y. Inventories of crude oil and petroleum products slipped 0.8% year-to-year compared to a 10.0% rise during mid-2009.
The energy price data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy and can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database. The daily figures are in DAILY and the gasoline demand figures are in OILWKLY. The CAFE standard are in the SURVEYS database.
Weekly Price | 03/26/12 | 03/19/12 | 03/12/12 | Y/Y% | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Retail Regular Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 3.92 | 3.87 | 3.83 | 9.0 | 3.52 | 2.78 | 2.35 |
Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl.) | 106.56 | 106.13 | 106.31 | 2.0 | 95.14 | 79.51 | 61.39 |
Natural Gas ($/mmbtu) | 2.14 | 2.11 | 2.24 | -48.3 | 3.99 | 4.40 | 3.95 |