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National Average Price Per Gallon: $2.972
Global oil prices rose by almost 1% today due to a weak dollar and tensions in the Middle East.
Concerns about Venezuela’s falling crude output has also contributed to rising prices.The International Energy Agency said last week that Venezuela is “clearly vulnerable to an accelerated decline.”
However, U.S. crude oil output continues to surge. Output in the United States is now higher than that of top exporter Saudi Arabia. Currently only Russia produces more, but U.S. output is expected to overtake Russia’s later this year.
Framing lumber: $506
Panels/plywood: $541
Following last week’s trend, cuts in prices to framing lumber products continued, and trading slowed. Buyers are holding back in anticipation of further price cuts in upcoming weeks.
Sales in structural panel products also slowed, but not enough to change the composite price across all product categories versus last week. Buyers have spent more time monitoring prices than placing orders.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment rates were lower in January than a year earlier in 337 of 338 surveyed metropolitan areas.
Here’s how the unemployment rates break down in some of the metropolitan areas surveyed. (By comparison, the national unemployment rate is 4.1%.)
- Ames, IA: 1.8%
- Urban Honolulu, HI: 2%
- Ann Arbor, MI: 3.6%
- Albuquerque, NM: 5.3%
- Watertown, NY: 8.4%
- Ocean City, NJ: 14.4%
- El Centro, CA: 17%
Sources: Random Lengths, EIA, Bureau of Labor Statistics, CNBC
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