Recent Updates
- Japan: ** Japan IP forecasts have rebased from 2010=100 to 2015=100. We are currently working on processing the new data.**
- ** New Zealand Jobs Online has changed its reported frequency from monthly to quarterly and rebased from August 2010=100 to Q4 2010=100. **
- Armenia: Commercial Bank Loans by Fields (Mar)
- Finland: Business Confidence, Consumer Confidence (Apr)
- Australia: PPI, Manufacturing Price, Construction Materials Prices (Mar); New Zealand: Trade by Country by Commodity,
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Kansas City Federal Reserve Factory Index Hits Record High
The Kansas City Fed reported that its index of regional manufacturing sector business activity surged to a record 26...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Decline Sharply
Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell sharply to 209,000 (-17.1% y/y)...
German Confidence Flattens and Falters
German confidence for May is mooted at a 97.8% queue percentile standing...
U.S. Mortgage Loan Applications Are Little Changed; Rates Remain High
The MBA total Mortgage Applications Volume Index eased 0.2% last week (-1.9% y/y)...
Japan Shows Very Moderate Growth As Trade War Clouds Gather
Japan’s sector indexes showed a solid gain in February...
by Tom Moeller October 22, 2013
The price for a gallon of regular gasoline rose a penny last week to $3.36 (-8.9% y/y). Prices have been relatively stable for three weeks at their lowest level since the end of January, but that's down from the $3.78 per gallon peak reached late in February. Haver Analytics constructs seasonal factors to account for seasonal volatility. The adjusted price of $3.39 per gallon remained below the February peak of $3.94. Yesterday, the NY spot price for regular unleaded was $2.67 per gallon, below last week's average of $3.72.
Helping gasoline prices to move lower is the high level of gasoline inventories which increased 10.2% y/y. That's a great improvement from the declines during 2011 and 2012. At the same time, the demand for gasoline gained a modest 1.7% y/y last week. Residual fuel oil needs, used for heating, fell by nearly one-half y/y while distillate demand fell 3.4% y/y.
The price of light sweet crude oil per barrel remains under pressure. It declined last week to $101.51 per barrel (+10.8% y/y). Yesterday prices fell further to $99.22 per barrel. Brent crude oil prices were stable last week at $110.13 per barrel (-3.1% y/y) but they remained down from the February high of $118.09. Yesterday, prices fell to $109.41 per barrel.
Natural gas prices recently firmed. They rose slightly last week to $3.77 per mmbtu (13.9% y/y) and were $3.77 yesterday, still down from the April peak of $4.26.
The energy price data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy and can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database. The daily figures are in DAILY and the gasoline demand and inventory figures are in OILWKLY.
Weekly Energy Prices | 10/21/13 | 10/14 | 10/07/13 | Y/Y% | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Retail Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 3.36 | 3.35 | 3.37 | -8.9 | 3.62 | 3.52 | 2.78 |
Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl.) | 101.51 | 102.70 | 103.14 | 10.8 | 94.20 | 95.14 | 79.51 |
Natural Gas ($/mmbtu, LA) | 3.77 | 3.69 | 3.56 | 13.9 | 2.75 | 3.99 | 4.00 |