Gas Prices, Mortgage Stats, & More

Week in Review: Sep. 4-8

Last week brought us a deluge of economic data, which means this week we only got a trickle. Even so, this shortened week gave us updates on gas prices, near-record oil production, the services side of the economy, and more.

Monday

Labor Day

No data releases on Labor Day, but you can read our piece from Monday, Labor Flexes Its Muscles.

Tuesday

Gas Prices

Gas prices fell for the second straight week and are now at the lowest level since the end of July. Compared to the same week last year, gas prices are up about $0.06.

Diesel Prices

Diesel prices increased for the seventh straight week, up just slightly to $4.49/gallon, but are still about $0.50 less per gallon than one year ago.

Orders for Manufacturers’ Goods

New orders for manufacturers’ goods fell 2.1% in July, ending a streak of four straight monthly increases. Excluding the transportation category (which is extremely volatile), however, orders increased modestly for the month. Through the first seven months of 2023, orders are 0.5% higher than they were during the same period of 2022.

What do we take from this? Not too much. The goods side of the economy remains weak as consumers continue to spend on experiences instead of things. Speaking of…

TSA Checkpoint Travel Numbers

The number of people passing through TSA security surpassed 12.1 million from Thursday-Monday of Labor Day weekend. That’s a stunning 21% above 2019 Labor Day weekend travel numbers and 12% above 2022 levels. Whatever else is going on in the economy, people are still traveling.

Wednesday

The Beige Book