Recent Updates
- US: Consumer Prices (Mar)
- Bangladesh: CPI (Mar)
- US: NFIB SMall Business Optimism (Mar)
- Egypt: Steel Sales and Production (Mar), BOP (Q4-Prelim)
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- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Energy Prices Ease Broadly
The price of regular gasoline eased to $2.85 per gallon (+53.8% y/y) in the week ended April 12...
U.S. Government Budget Deficit Widens During March
The U.S. Treasury Department reported a federal budget deficit of $659.6 billion during March...
FIBER: Industrial Commodity Prices Improve Modestly
The FIBER Industrial Materials Price Index increased 0.9% during the four weeks ended April 9...
EMU Retail Sales Jump, Regaining Some of the January Drop
February finds EU retail sales and motor vehicle registration rebounding...
U.S. PPI Posts Broad-Based Strength in March
The Producer Price Index for final demand jumped 1.0% (4.2% y/y) during March...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
Monetary Policy Blunder: Not Managing Economic & Financial Outcomes Equally
Monetary Policy at a Crossroad: Policymakers Need to Break Promise of Easy Money to Avoid Boom-Bust
State Coincident Indexes in January
Data Surprises, Markets and COVID
by Tom Moeller August 11, 2015
Gasoline prices at the pump fell to an average $2.63 per gallon (-25.0% y/y) last week, the lowest level since late-April. This summer's high in prices was $2.84 per gallon reached in mid-June. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in pump prices. The seasonally adjusted price fell 7 cents to $2.51 per gallon. Spot market gasoline prices eased w/w to $1.72 per gallon (-35.9% y/y).
WTI crude oil costs dropped sharply last week to an average $44.94 per barrel (-53.9% y/y), down from June's high of $60.07. Yesterday, prices held at $45.00 per barrel. These prices compare to a June 2014 high of $107.95. The seasonally adjusted price, generated by Haver Analytics, eased last week to $42.64 per barrel. Brent crude oil prices fell w/w to $48.59 per barrel and were $50.11 yesterday.
Natural gas prices eased last week to $2.80 per mmbtu (-27.9% y/y) and were $2.85 yesterday.
Gasoline demand rose 5.4% y/y while demand for all petroleum products rose 3.6% y/y. Gasoline inventories improved 1.3% y/y and inventories of all petroleum products increased 8.7% y/y. Crude oil production (input to refineries) grew 2.1% y/y during the last four weeks, less than half the growth logged in June.
The energy price data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The petroleum demand and inventory figures are from the Oil & Gas Journal Weekly. These data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database. The daily figures are in DAILY and greater detail on prices, demand and production, along with regional breakdowns, are in OILWKLY.
Weekly Energy Prices | 08/10/15 | 08/03/15 | 07/27/15 | Y/Y% | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Retail Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 2.63 | 2.69 | 2.75 | -25.0 | 2.30 | 3.33 | 3.30 |
Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl., WSJ) | 44.94 | 47.91 | 49.26 | -53.9 | 93.64 | 97.96 | 94.20 |
Natural Gas ($/mmbtu, LA, WSJ) | 2.80 | 2.85 | 2.87 | -27.9 | 4.37 | 3.73 | 2.7 |