National Average Price Per Gallon: $3.288
The U.S. is set to export 2.3 million barrels per day of crude oil to Asia in June. The move is calculated to take market share away from Russia and other OPEC countries.
China has purchased a record 16 million barrels of U.S. crude. The purchase came after the country cut Saudi imports.
India and South Korea are the next biggest Asian buyers. The two countries purchased a total of 13 million barrels, which will also be delivered in June.
Framing lumber: $578
Panels/plywood: $566
Framing lumber prices continued to rise due to seasonal demand. But buyers showed more caution than they have in previous weeks due to volatility in the market.
Steady demand continued for structural panel products. But high prices did cause demand to taper off ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Businesses added 178,000 new jobs in May. This is a drop from the 190,000 new jobs expected by analysts.
New hiring was especially strong in construction, education and health care, accounting, engineering, and legal services. Retailers cut jobs.
Unemployment remains low – currently at 3.9%. This means employers are unable to hire as many new workers as they would prefer, as the number of job seekers remains low.
Sources: Random Lengths, EIA, CNBC (1), CNBC (2)