Business news with words department+prices+reported. 45 news.

OIL prices drifted higher in light holiday trading yesterday after predictions of a drop in crude inventories raised new supply concerns. With little other news to motivate buying or selling, investors focused on forecasts by analysts including Addison Armstrong, director of exchange traded markets at TFS Energy Futures LLC, who predicted crude inventories fell by 1.5 million barrels last week. Tim Evans, an analyst at Citigroup Inc, predicted that crude stocks fell by 2 million to 3 million barrels. The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reports oil inventories on Thursday this week, a day late due to Christmas. Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose 82 cents to settle at US$94.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after falling as low as US$92.50 earlier. Prices rose more than US$2 on Friday after the government reported consumer spending jumped more than expected in November, raising hopes that the economy will weather the crisis roiling

OIL prices jumped in light trading yesterday after the government reported that consumer spending surged last month, raising hopes that the US economy will weather the crisis roiling credit markets and that demand for oil and gasoline will strengthen. The Commerce Department said consumer spending jumped 1.1 percent in November, the biggest one-month gain since 2004 and well above analyst expectations for an 0.7 percent increase. Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose US$2.25 to settle at US$93.31 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices were also supported by stocks, which rose yesterday, and a slightly weaker dollar. Energy investors often view stock market moves as reflective of overall economic sentiment. Also, oil futures offer a hedge against a weak dollar, and oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors when the greenback is falling. Many observers blame oil's rise last month to near US$100 on speculators

CRUDE oil futures rose yesterday after the government said stocks of crude and heating oil fell sharply last week while gasoline inventories jumped. In its weekly inventory snapshot, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reported crude stocks dropped by 7.6 million barrels last week, much more than the 1.5 million barrel decline analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires, on average, had expected. Much of the decline was due to a sharp drop in imports, almost a million barrels a day, because fog closed the Houston Ship Channel last week, said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Illinois. "That's basically what drew crude supplies lower," Ritterbusch said. Traders expect crude supplies will rebound in next week's report, which will reflect deliveries that were delayed by the fog, Ritterbusch said. Meanwhile, investors were focusing on other aspects of the report, which were mixed. For instance, heating oil

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The dollar strengthened against other major currencies early Friday, getting a boost after the Labor Department reported hotter-than-expected consumer price inflation for November. The dollar rose 0.7% against the yen at 113.07 yen. The euro gave up 1% at $1.4491. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, rose 0.8% at 77.145. The consumer price index increased 0.8%, driven by a 5.7% gain in energy prices, the biggest gain in consumer prices in more than two years. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.3%, the biggest gain since January. The numbers were worse than expected. Economists were forecasting the CPI to rise 0.7% and the core rate to rise 0.2%, according to a survey conducted by MarketWatch.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. retail sales rose sharply in November, pushed higher by rising gasoline prices, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Wholesale prices rose 3.2% in November - the largest change since 3.5% in August 1973 -- as energy price growth hit a new record, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Wholesale energy prices rose 14.1% in November, beating the prior record growth of 13.4% in January 1990. Growth in gasoline prices of 34.8% also hit a new record - beating the prior record of 28.8% in April 1999. Food prices had 0.0% growth, compared with a gain of 1.0% in the prior month. Excluding volatile food and energy, the core producer prices grew 0.4%. Economists had expected November's PPI to grow 1.8% and the core to grow 0.2%.

OIL futures rose sharply yesterday after the government reported unexpected declines in stocks of crude and heating oil last week and the Federal Reserve announced a plan to help banks weather the credit crisis. Crude supplies fell 700,000 barrels during the week ended December 7, according to a weekly inventory report from the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration. Analysts had expected a 100,000 barrel increase. And supplies of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, fell 800,000 barrels; analysts had expected inventories to rise by 300,000 barrels. "Traders are concerned about that drop in distillate supplies," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp., in Chicago. Earlier, the Fed said it was working with other central banks to try to counter the credit crisis. That alleviated some of investors' disappointment that the Fed on Tuesday cut interest rates by just a quarter percentage point. Many investors had hoped for a

CRUDE oil fell below US$90 a barrel on Friday in the biggest weekly loss in two and a half years on concern that slowing economic growth will cut energy demand. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said supplies in the market were "ample." Consumer spending in the US rose less than forecast in October and incomes increased at the slowest pace in six months, the United States' Commerce Department said in Washington. Al-Naimi, speaking in Doha, said oil prices didn't reflect actual production and consumption trends, Bloomberg News reported. "The market is simply becoming more concerned about a possible recession that could reduce petroleum demand," said James Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Illinois. "We have been seeing evidence for some time of a weakening economy and weakening oil demand." Crude oil for January delivery fell US$2.30, or 2.5 percent, to settle at US$88.71 a barrel at 2:45pm on the New York Mercantile

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Growth in U.S. consumer spending ground to a halt in October, while inflation eroded American households' modest gains in income, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Nominal incomes rose just 0.2% in October. But after accounting for the 0.3% rise in prices, real after-tax incomes fell 0.1%. Consumer spending increased 0.2% in nominal terms and was flat after adjusting for inflation. Both incomes and spending were slightly weaker than expected on Wall Street. Inflationary pressures were steady in October. The personal consumption expenditure price index rose 0.3% for a second straight month. Core prices, which exclude food and energy prices, rose 0.2% for the second straight month. Core inflation was steady at 1.9% over the past year, just within the Fed's unofficial comfort zone.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Builders slashed prices at the fastest pace in 26 years in October, boosting sales of new homes from a much lower level of September sales than was originally reported, according to Commerce Department data released Thursday.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Builders slashed prices at the fastest pace in 26 years in October, boosting sales of new homes from a much lower level of sales in September than was originally reported, according to Commerce Department data released Thursday. Sales rose 1.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 728,000 in October from a downwardly revised 716,000 in September, which was a 11-year low. September's sales pace was originally reported as 770,000. August's sales were also revised sharply lower to 717,000 from 735,000 estimated a month ago, and 795,000 estimated in the first release. Sales are down 23.5% in the past year. The October sales pace was much weaker than the 740,000 expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch.

CRUDE oil futures closed down in choppy trading yesterday, failing to breach US$100 a barrel after the government reported that crude oil inventories at a key Midwest oil terminal rose for the first time in weeks. The news helped offset the market impact of an overall drop in crude oil stocks. Light, sweet crude for January delivery fell 74 cents to settle at US$97.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Stocks of distillates, including heating oil, also dropped more than expected last week, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reported. That could mean more bad news for heating oil customers already expecting costs to rise 22 percent this winter. Heating oil futures fell 0.27 cent to settle at US$2.6874 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange after earlier hitting US$2.7154, a new record. Crude prices -- which rose as high as US$99.29 on the New York Mercantile Exchange earlier Wednesday and broke the previous intraday record of US$98.62

ENERGY futures fell yesterday after the government reported unexpected increases in crude oil and gasoline inventories last week and OPEC forecast fourth-quarter demand for oil would be less than expected. In its weekly inventory report, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said oil inventories rose by 2.8 million barrels during the week ended November 9. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires, on average, had expected a decline of 300,000 barrels. That helped send light, sweet crude for December delivery falling 66 US cents to settle at US$93.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading off more than US$2 a barrel earlier. Crude prices have been volatile this week, falling more than US$3 on Tuesday and rising more than US$2 on Wednesday after hitting a record of US$98.62 one week ago. The drop in crude was limited, however, by an unexpectedly large drop in heating oil supplies, a mixed report on Iran's compliance with UN demands over

WASHINGTON Consumer inflation posted another elevated reading in October as energy prices shot up by the fastest pace in five months. The Labor Department reported Thursday that its Consumer Price Index rose by 0.3 percent last month, the second straight month with inflation at that level. The acceleration was occurring because of another jump in energy prices and continued increases in food costs. Meanwhile, the government said that the number of laid off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits rose by 20,000 last week to 339,000, the highest level in four weeks.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Wholesale prices rose 0.1% in October, as food prices rose and energy prices fell, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. Energy prices decreased 0.8% in October, compared with a gain of 4.1% in the prior month. Food prices rose 1.0%, compared with a 1.5% gain in the prior month. Excluding volatile food and energy, the core producer prices were flat with the prior month's level. Economists had expected both the PPI and core to rise 0.1%.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Prices that U.S. residents paid for imported goods rose 1.8% in October, the biggest increase since May 2006, the Labor Department reported Friday. Imported petroleum prices rose 6.9%, but prices of other goods rose a more moderate 0.5%. Excluding all fuels, import prices rose 0.3%. Meanwhile, export prices jumped 0.9% in October, including a 3.9% rise in agricultural prices. Excluding agriculture, export prices rose 0.5% in October. In the past year, import prices are up 9.6%, including a 41.4% increase in petroleum prices. Excluding petroleum, import prices are up 3.2%. Fed officials are watching import prices closely to see if the weaker dollar is fueling U.S. inflation.

THE prospect of a stronger US economy and word of possible new UN sanctions against Iran sent crude oil futures back above US$96 a barrel yesterday. The Labor Department reported that employers boosted payrolls by 166,000 jobs in October, the biggest increase in months and double what economists had forecast. Meanwhile, October's unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent. Separately, the Commerce Department said factory orders rose 0.2 percent in September, better than the 0.4 percent decline analysts were expecting. "It suggests that concerns about the economy ... are overblown a little bit," said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy and Economic Research Inc., in Winchester, Massachusetts. Oil futures added to their gains late yesterday when the British Foreign Office said the U.N. Security Council has agreed to draft a new sanctions resolution that could be passed in November if Iranian cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency does not

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Orders for U.S.-made factory goods rose 0.2% in September on higher gasoline prices, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Orders for durable goods fell 1.7% on a big drop in orders for defense aircraft and other defense goods. Orders and shipments for nondurable goods rose 2.1%. The value of shipments from petroleum refiners jumped 11.2% on the month, accounting for all the gain in nondurables. Total factory orders were stronger than the 0.7% decline expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. Factory orders had fallen a revised 3.5% in August. Special one-time factors in both directions clouded the underlying trends in September. Compared with a year ago, orders were down 0.1%, while shipments were off 0.2%.

U.S. consumer prices rose at the sharpest rate in four months during September, the government reported Wednesday, as energy costs picked up after three months of decline. The Labor Department said the Consumer Price Index, the most broadly used gauge of inflation, rose at a 0.3 percent rate last month after declining 0.1 percent in August.

WASHINGTON Consumer inflation rose at the fastest pace in four months in September, reflecting higher energy and food costs. The Labor Department reported Wednesday that its closely watched Consumer Price Index increased by 0.3 percent last month as energy costs, which had been falling for three months, posted an increase and food prices jumped by the largest amount since June. The 0.3 percent CPI increase was slightly above the 0.2 percent advance that economists had been expecting. Core inflation, which excludes energy and food, was up a more moderate 0.2 percent, in li