Recent Updates
- US: Consumer Sentiment (Jan-prelim), Mfg & Trade Inventories & Sales (Nov), IP & Capacity Utilization, Adv Retail Sales, Producer Prices (Dec)
- US: Industrial Production Detail (Dec)
- US: Producer Price Indexes by Commodity Detail (Dec)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Empire State Manufacturing Index Declines in January
The Empire State Manufacturing Index of General Business Conditions decreased to 3.5 in January...
U.S. Industrial Production Continues Recovery
Industrial production advanced 1.6% in December...
U.S. PPI Rose 0.3% in December
The Producer Price Index for final demand rose 0.3% (0.8% y/y) in December...
U.S. Business Inventories Accumulate during November as Sales Weaken
Total business inventories increased 0.5% during November (-3.2% y/y)...
The EMU Trade Surplus Stabilizes
Both exports and imports have been regaining momentum...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller August 7, 2018
Retail gasoline prices remained at $2.85 per gallon last week, up 16.5% from $2.45 at the end of last year. Haver Analytics constructs factors to adjust for the marked seasonal variation in prices. The seasonally-adjusted gasoline price was $2.79 per gallon, up from $2.60 late last year.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices improved to $69.01 per barrel last week from $68.80 the previous week and were up 39.4% from a year ago. WTI prices remained lower than the $71.79 peak at the end of June. Brent crude oil prices declined to $73.37 per barrel last week from $76.98 at the end of June.
Natural gas prices rose slightly last week to $2.80/mmbtu (0.8% y/y) from roughly $2.75 in the prior two weeks.
In the four-weeks ending July 27, gasoline demand eased 0.9% y/y; total petroleum product demand improved 0.6% y/y. Gasoline inventories increased 1.4% y/y, but inventories of all petroleum products fell 6.4% y/y. Crude oil input to refineries rose 0.9% y/y in the last four weeks.
These data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The price data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY and DAILY databases. Greater detail on prices, as well as the demand, production and inventory data, along with regional breakdowns, are in OILWKLY.
Weekly Energy Prices | 08/06/18 | 07/30/18 | 07/23/18 | Y/Y % | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Retail Gasoline ($ per Gallon Regular, Monday Price) | 2.85 | 2.85 | 2.83 | 19.9 | 2.47 | 2.31 | 2.03 |
Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl, Previous Week's Average) | 69.01 | 68.80 | 68.96 | 39.4 | 50.87 | 43.22 | 48.90 |
Natural Gas ($/mmbtu, LA, Previous Week's Average) | 2.80 | 2.75 | 2.74 | 0.8 | 2.96 | 2.49 | 2.62 |