Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer
Gasoline prices rose 2.4-cents to $2.572 overnight, the 37th straight increase.
In the last 37 days, the average price of gas has increased 52.4 cents, or 25%.
Prices are still below the all-time high of $4.114 that AAA reported on July 17, 2008, but the seemingly relentless march back toward $3 a gallon gas is starting to make drivers nervous.
The highest gas prices are in Hawaii ($2.856), while the highest prices in the contiguous U.S. are in Michigan ($2.840). The cheapest gas prices are in South Carolina ($2.375).
Crude oil spikes
Crude oil prices are rising above $68, boosted by forecasts of higher oil prices from Goldman Sachs.
Goldman raised its end of 2009 oil price forecast to $85 a barrel from $65 and introduced a new end of 2010 forecast of $95.
The all-time for high for crude was $147.27 a barrel, hit back in July 2008.
Ongoing claims for jobless benefits decline
We’ve got a break today in a key measure of the jobs picture. The number of people on the unemployment insurance rolls fell slightly last week for the first time since January, while the tally of new jobless claims also dipped.
First-time claims for jobless benefits declined by 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 621,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 625,000, nearly matching analysts' expectations.
But number of people receiving benefits for one week or more fell by 15,000 to 6.73 million, the first drop in 20 weeks. Still, the number of initial claims remains stubbornly high - above the 605,000 level reached five weeks ago - and point to another sizable drop in payrolls when the May employment report is released on Friday.
Unemployment tops 15% in 13 cities in April
While the job picture appears to be improving somewhat, we have a reminder of just how bad things have been in recent months.
There were 13 unlucky cities with unemployment rates topping 15% in April, and another 93 saw joblessness climb above 10%, according to a government report released earlier this week.
Nine of the baker's dozen are in California, a state ravaged by the housing meltdown and an unparalleled state budget crisis. By comparison, only seven cities reported unemployment rates above 10% in April 2008.
April 2009 was also the fourth consecutive month that unemployment rose in all of the nation's 372 metropolitan areas compared with the same month in the prior year.
These monthly metropolitan-area numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics lag behind the government’s national unemployment statistics, which showed the nationwide jobless rate was 8.9% in April.
Wal-Mart: We’re hiring
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, says it expects to hire more than 22,000 people to staff its new or expanded stores in the U.S. this year.
The company said it will add 1,000 or more workers in each of 8 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia.
Wal-Mart added 33,000 jobs in the United States last year, according to the company’s annual report released in April.
Wal-Mart is the largest private-sector employer in the United States, with a workforce of nearly 1.5 million people.
Retail sales figures disappoint
Most retailers continued to suffer sagging sales in May despite reports that showed more American consumers are regaining confidence in the economy.
Sales tracker Thomson Reuters, which tracks monthly same-store sales for 30 retail chains, said overall May sales for the group fell a worse-than-expected 4.8%, compared to a gain of 1.1% last year.
Same-store sales, a key gauge of a retailer's performance, measures sales at stores open at least a year.
One factor that’s skewing the results however is Wal-Mart's exclusion from the firm's monthly sales index. The company announced last month that it would no longer provide monthly same-store sales data.
Coming to America: the 'world's cheapest car'
Finally, the chairman of India's Tata Motors says he hopes to offer the Nano, dubbed the “world's cheapest car, “in the United States within two years.
The vehicle will have to meet all U.S. emission and crash standards, of course, before hitting the street. Tata plans to offer a European version of the car, which costs about $2,300, in 2011.
The four-seater Nano gets up to 65 miles per gallon and cheap labor helps keep the price down.
| SLM |
June 4th, 2009 2:11 pm ET And the Feds want to add more gas taxes to pay for the projects that will run out of money in August. Is this the change we voted for, higher taxes! |
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| L. Maria |
June 4th, 2009 2:17 pm ET I find that there is no balance in the media when giving much attention to one group and ignoring another. I am refering to the " Muslim" people in the middle east, in particular in Egyp where there is a population that is treated as a SECOND CLASS and is persecuted DAILY, that exist and is important. The media choosed to talk about one group, ignoring another. Thank you, |
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| Lisa in CA |
June 4th, 2009 3:21 pm ET I'm always curious when these numbers are reported ... but how many people fell off the roles for unemployment benefits? How many people took jobs at lesser salaries? How many took part-time jobs? Those factors also account for the "drop in claims". You can't get an accurate picture without having all the data. Oh, and apparently whomever tracks gas prices hasn't been in CA - in the South Sac area I've seen prices at $2.95/gal. |
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| Mari |
June 4th, 2009 3:56 pm ET @ L. Maria.......... I agree that CNN should bring up the plight of the Christians in the Middle East. But, we must also remember, L. Maria, the bloody-horrible history of the Crusades, of Muslims being burned at the stake; the Christians have not been perfect either. We must pray and hope for the day that Christians, Muslims and Jews, can live in peace. We are after all the Three Great Abrahamic Faiths. Also, we must keep Jesus' words forefront when dealing with the Muslims, " ...... love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for those which use you and persecute you." Matthew 5:44 (NIV) Yes, we need to bring to light the plight of the Christians, but L. Maria, we also have to be Jesus to this world, and love our enemies. Peace of Christ to you. |
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| Mari |
June 4th, 2009 3:58 pm ET Now...... to the subject at hand. The law of "supply & demand" is still in affect. When the prices at the pump dropped, what did we, Americans, do? We started driving more, stopped using mass transit, and carpooling! Let's get back to conserving, because, oil is running out, and the price of oil will continue to rise. The best way to shut down terrorism, is for the oil money to dry up! Conserve and let's support alternative fuels. |
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| jeremy |
June 4th, 2009 5:37 pm ET Just want to observe something a little aggravating: a speculator preducted higher oil prices, /causing them to rise/. |
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| susan |
June 4th, 2009 6:02 pm ET The price of gasoline is the reflection of the cost to fuel our economy. (Pun intended.) It is how the individual perceives/feels it. There was always this problem: how do you quickly and heuristically explain, say the Dow Jones Industrial/S&P/Russell etc/ CPI/GDP/Unemployment rate. The real problem is the juxtaposition of the a rate and an individually experienced number. (I guess only those who only walk or use public transit might feel inured to the current cost of gasoline.) |
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| JIM S CALIFORNIA |
June 4th, 2009 7:03 pm ET The price of oil was a $147.50 a barrel when gas was $4.11. Oil is $67 a barrel and with gas getting close to$3 a gallon. Either the oil companies are price gouging or our president is increasing the federal tax on it.. At the current price of oil, gas should be around $195 a gallon. Therefore when the price of oil hist $85 a barrel, gas will be back to $4.11 a gallon. |
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| Annie Kate |
June 4th, 2009 8:00 pm ET Its good that the number of jobs lost has slowed but what about the number of jobs created? Is there anyway to track that especially by type of job so we can see where jobs are and what kind of jobs there are. I'm afraid that the stats are looking as jobs as being all equal – they aren't. One job with good benefits and a 6 figure salary is worth several jobs at Wal-mart for instant that pays minimum wage and has practically no benefits. To say the recovery has started when people have to accept much lower salaries for their talents than they used to is a pretty hollow recovery. |
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