Recent Updates
- North Macedonia: Wages (Nov), Broad Money, Loans Granted to Households, Monetary and Credit Aggregates (Dec)
- South Africa: Wholesale & Retail Trade (Nov)
- Mexico: Employment (Dec)
- Turkey: Consumer Confidence Index (Jan)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Decline in Refinancing Drags Down U.S. Mortgage Applications
The MBA Mortgage Loan Applications Index fell 1.9% w/w (+56.2% y/y) in the weekend January 15...
Euro Area Inflation Persists in Negative Territory
Euro area inflation is negative on a year-over-year basis for five months in a row...
U.S. Energy Prices Continue to Rise
The price of regular gasoline rose to $2.38 per gallon (-6.2% y/y)...
Macro Expectations Hold to the High Ground
In January, the ZEW index paints a mixed and somewhat uneven view of its survey universe...
U.S. Housing Affordability Improves During November
The NAR reported that its Fixed Rate Mortgage Housing Affordability Index rose 0.7% (-0.7% y/y)...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Gerald D. Cohen February 12, 2019
Retail gasoline prices edged up to $2.28 per gallon last week (-12.7% year-on-year). Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in gasoline pump prices. The seasonally-adjusted price rose to $2.47 per gallon, up slightly from the 14-month low of $2.39 in early January.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices decreased to an average of $53.53 (-13.7% y/y) per barrel last week. Oil prices hit an 18-month low of $44.55 at the end of last year. Yesterday, prices ticked down to $52.41 per barrel. Brent crude oil prices rose to an average of $62.20 per barrel last week and were $61.51 yesterday.
Natural gas prices fell to an average of $2.59/mmbtu last week (-5.8% y/y) from $2.90/mmbtu, as the cold snap in the Midwest and East abated. Prices rose to $2.76 yesterday.
In the four-weeks ending February 1st, gasoline demand increased 1.6% y/y, while total petroleum product demand rose 2.0% y/y. Gasoline inventories were up 5.1% y/y in the week ending February 1st, while inventories of all petroleum products grew 1.8% y/y. Crude oil input to refineries also gained 1.8% y/y in the last four weeks.
These data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The price data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY and DAILY databases. Greater detail on prices, as well as the demand, production and inventory data, along with regional breakdowns, are in OILWKLY.
Weekly Energy Prices | 02/11/19 | 02/04/19 | 01/28/19 | Y/Y % | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Retail Gasoline ($ per Gallon Regular, Monday Price, End of Period) | 2.28 | 2.25 | 2.26 | -12.7 | 2.27 | 2.47 | 2.31 |
Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl, Previous Week's Average) | 53.53 | 53.63 | 52.74 | -13.7 | 64.95 | 50.87 | 43.22 |
Natural Gas ($/mmbtu, LA, Previous Week's Average) | 2.59 | 2.90 | 3.19 | -5.8 | 3.18 | 2.99 | 2.51 |