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Economy in Brief
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index Dips in May But Remains Strong
The Kansas City Fed reported that its manufacturing sector business activity index declined to 23 in May...
U.S. Pending Home Sales Decline Sharply in April
Home buying remains under pressure...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Eased Slightly in the Latest Week
Initial claims for unemployment insurance filed in the week ended May 21 were 210,000 (-52.4% y/y)...
Italian Confidence Makes Small Bounce in May; Is It a Signal or Is It Noise?
Italian business and consumer confidence indexes both are substantially lower in May...
U.S. Durable Goods Orders Increase Modestly in April
Manufacturers' new orders for durable goods increased 0.4% during April (12.2% y/y)...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
State Coincident Indexes in April 2022
State Labor Markets in April 2022
Profits & Margins Plunge In Q1: Expect More Margin Contraction As Fed Squeezes Inflation
The Many Links of Inflation Cycle: Hard Landing Is Needed to Crack Them
Peak Inflation and Fed Policy: A Relationship which Should Worry the Fed and Scare Investors
by Tom Moeller March 3, 2015
Gasoline prices continued upward by 14 cents last week to $2.47 per gallon (-28.9% y/y) following the prior week's 6 cent increase. Prices have risen 43 cents (21.0%) since the low 5 weeks ago. Despite the gains, prices remained well below the $3.70 per gallon peak reached this past June. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in pump prices. The seasonally adjusted price moved up 10 cents last week to $2.49 per gallon and increased 25 cents (11.2%) from the low, indicating that much of recent pump price rise was to be expected.
For the week ended February 27, WTI crude oil prices declined to an average $49.53 per barrel (-51.8% y/y), but still were higher than the low of $45.72. Yesterday, prices held steady at $49.59 per barrel. These prices compare to a June peak of $107.95. The seasonally adjusted price generated by Haver Analytics declined to $50.38 per barrel last week, up from the low of 48.99. Brent crude oil prices were steady last week at $60.63 per barrel (-44.5% y/y) and were $60.75 yesterday.
Natural gas prices increased to $3.08 (-41.0% y/y) per mmbtu during the week ended February 27. Prices improved 43 cents (16.4%) from the low four weeks ago but fell back to $2.84 yesterday.
The demand for all petroleum products strengthened 5.1% y/y and gasoline demand increased 3.3% y/y. Inventories of crude oil and petroleum products increased 8.2% y/y and gasoline inventories grew 4.1% y/y.
The energy price data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The petroleum demand and inventory figures are from the Oil & Gas Journal Weekly. These data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database. The daily figures are in DAILY and greater detail on prices, demand and production, along with regional breakdowns, are in OILWKLY.
Weekly Energy Prices | 02/30/15 | 02/23/15 | 02/16/15 | Y/Y% | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Retail Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 2.47 | 2.33 | 2.27 | -28.9 | 3.36 | 3.51 | 3.62 |
Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl., WSJ) | 49.53 | 51.79 | 51.14 | -51.8 | 93.63 | 97.95 | 94.20 |
Natural Gas ($/mmbtu, LA, WSJ) | 3.08 | 2.96 | 2.74 | -41.0 | 4.37 | 3.73 | 2.7 |