Recent Updates
- US: Wholesale Trade (Feb), Producer Prices (Mar)
- US: Producer Price Indexes by Commodity Detail (Mar)
- US: Producer Price Indexes by Industry Detail (Mar)
- Canada: Investment in Building Construction (Feb), Labor Force Survey (Mar)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Wholesale Inventories Post Strong February Gain; Sales Fall
Wholesale inventories increased 0.6% (2.0% y/y) during February...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Unexpectedly Increase
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 744,000 during the week ended April 3...
Total PMIs Gain Traction in March
The PMI readings for March show improvement again...
U.S. Consumer Credit Outstanding Bounces Back in February
Consumer credit outstanding surged $27.6 billion during February...
U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to Record during February
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $71.1 during February...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller May 15, 2018
Retail gasoline prices rose to $2.87 per gallon yesterday (21.3% y/y) and remained at the highest price level since November 2014. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in gasoline pump prices. The seasonally-adjusted price rose to $2.77 per gallon, the highest level since mid-February.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices rose to an average of $70.60 (50.0% y/y) per barrel last week from $68.38 per barrel. Prices increased further yesterday to $70.73 per barrel. Brent crude oil prices declined to an average of $76.68 per barrel last week and were $74.75 on Friday.
Natural gas prices improved to an average of $2.73/mmbtu last week (-13.7% y/y) and remained at that level yesterday. Prices have been hovering around $2.70 for the last three months.
In the four-weeks ending May 4, gasoline demand edged increased 2.2% y/y, while total petroleum product demand rose 2.7% y/y. Gasoline inventories declined 2.2% y/y, while inventories of all petroleum products dropped 6.6% y/y. Crude oil input to refineries decreased 1.4% y/y in the last four weeks.
This data is reported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The price data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY and DAILY databases. Greater detail on prices, as well as the demand, production and inventory data, along with regional breakdowns, are in OILWKLY.
Recycling Oil Revenue from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is available here.
Weekly Energy Prices | 05/14/18 | 05/07/18 | 04/30/18 | Y/Y % | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Retail Gasoline ($ per Gallon Regular, Monday Price) | 2.87 | 2.85 | 2.85 | 21.3 | 2.47 | 2.31 | 2.03 |
Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl, Previous Week's Average) | 70.60 | 68.38 | 50.00 | 44.8 | 50.87 | 43.22 | 48.90 |
Natural Gas ($/mmbtu, LA, Previous Week's Average) | 2.73 | 2.71 | 2.77 | -13.7 | 2.96 | 2.49 | 2.62 |