Recent Updates
- Bangladesh: BOP (Nov), Stock Exchange Indicators (Jan), Reserve Money (Dec)
- Philippines: CPI (Feb)
- Thailand: International Trade by Region (Jan)
- Japan: First 20 Days Trade, Bank of Japan's Transactions (Feb)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Rise Just 9,000
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose modestly by 9,000 to 745,000 in the week ended February 27...
U.S. Productivity's Decline Lessened in Q4'20; Reverses Q3 Increase
Revisions to nonfarm business sector productivity indicated a 4.2% decline during Q4'20...
EMU Unemployment Rate Steadies in January
The overall EMU unemployment rate was steady in January, off peak, but still elevated...
U.S. ADP Nonfarm Private Payroll Increase Disappoints in February
Job market strength moderated last month....
U.S. ISM Services Index Weakens in February
The ISM Composite Index of Services Activity declined to 55.3 during February...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller February 13, 2018
Retail gasoline prices declined to $2.61 per gallon last week (+13.0% y/y) from $2.64 per gallon. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in gasoline pump prices. The seasonally-adjusted price fell to $2.84 per gallon from $2.90, but remained near the highest level since December 2014.
WTI crude oil prices fell sharply to $61.96 per barrel last week (+17.2% y/y) to the lowest level in five weeks, and down from last week's peak of $65.22 per barrel. Prices declined yesterday to $59.29 per barrel. Brent crude oil prices declined to $65.50 per barrel last week and fell to $62.20 yesterday.
Natural gas prices declined to $2.72/mmbtu last week (-9.6% y/y) and weakened to $2.56/mmbtu yesterday.
In the week ended February 2, gasoline demand strengthened 6.5% y/y, while total petroleum product demand increased 4.8% y/y. Gasoline inventories declined 4.2% y/y, while inventories of all petroleum products fell 17.4% y/y. Crude oil input to refineries improved 1.7% y/y in the last four weeks.
The energy price data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The petroleum demand and inventory figures are from the Oil & Gas Journal Weekly. These data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database. The daily figures are in DAILY and greater detail on prices, demand and production, along with regional breakdowns, are in OILWKLY.
Weekly Energy Prices | 02/12/18 | 02/05/18 | 01/29/18 | Y/Y % | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Retail Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 2.61 | 2.64 | 2.61 | 13.0 | 2.47 | 2.31 | 2.03 |
Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl.) | 61.96 | 65.22 | 65.04 | 17.2 | 50.87 | 43.22 | 48.90 |
Natural Gas ($/mmbtu, LA, WSJ) | 2.72 | 3.25 | 3.43 | -9.6 | 2.96 | 2.49 | 2.62 |