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July 14, 2021

From sausage to sewing machines, here are the everyday products and services that have gone up the most in price since last year

grocery shopping — David McNew/Getty Images

Prices for American consumers increased 0.9% last month, the largest increase in a decade.
Used cars have made headlines, while others, like sewing machines, have caused less of a stir.
Products and services in over 45 categories had price increases of more than 5%.
See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Consumer prices are rising, ticking up by 0.9% last month. That’s the largest increase in more than a decade, according to the latest US government figures.

But that figure is just a summary of the overall price picture for American households – the important stuff is in the details.

To see how that top-line number is playing out in everyday life, Insider pored through the tables and plucked out more than 45 product and service prices that have increased by more than 5% since last year.

Food

bacon — Bacon and pork prices are up.

apomares/Getty Images

Bacon +8.4%
Other Pork +6.5%
Fresh Seafood +6.4%
Whole Milk +7.5%
Apples +6.5%
Citrus Fruits +9.5%
Other Fruit +8.7%
Lettuce +5.1%
Fast Food +6.2%
Vending machine snacks +5.7%

Fuel

Fuel Oil +44.5%
Propane, Kerosene, and Firewood +17.7%
Gasoline +45.1%

Home Items

home depot customer shopper washing machines — Household appliances are getting more expensive.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Carpets +5.3%
Household Furniture +8.6%
Washers and Dryers +29.4%

Clothes and Accessories

levi's jeans — Shoppers are refreshing their wardrobes.

Denis Poroy/AP

Men’s Pants and Shorts +11.1%
Boys’ Apparel +5.5%
Women’s Outerwear +8.4%
Women’s Dresses +15.8%
Girls’ apparel +5.5%
Shoes +6.5%
Watches +7.8%
Jewelry +12.3%

Vehicles

Comprehensive Car Insurance — The chip shortage is creating all sorts of issues in the autos market.

Don Mason/Getty Images

New Trucks +5.7%
Used Cars and Trucks +45.2%
Tires +5.2%

Services

United Airlines Planes Landing — Air travel is coming back strong.

Jeff Chiu/AP Photo

Hotels and Motels +16.9%
Domestic Services +10.6%
Moving and Storage +17.3%
Car and Truck Rental +87.7%
Car Insurance +11.3%
Airline Fares +24.6%
Cable and Satellite +TV 5.1%
Vet Services +5.2%
Delivery Services +7.7%
Land-line phone service +6.4%

Other Stuff

seamstress, sewing machine — Supplies for hobbies and home arts and crafts are more expensive.

Shutterstock

Televisions +7.6%
Sporting goods +7.5%
Cameras +5.6%
Sewing Machines and Supplies +13.3%
Cigarettes +7.3%

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July 8, 2021

How much gas costs in different regions of the US

gas station lines — A customer pumps gas at Costco, as a worker directs traffic, on Tuesday, May 11, 2021, in Charlotte, N.C.

AP Photo/Chris Carlson

Americans are on the move again with travel up 54.6% in April 2021 from April 2020.
Gas prices vary throughout the US; prices are over $3.80 per gallon on the West Coast.
The following map shows what gas prices are as of July 5 in seven regions across the US.
See more stories on Insider’s business page.

It’s summer and Americans are hitting the road and traveling again.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, travel on roads and streets is up 54.6% in April 2021 from the same time a year ago when many states had stay-at-home orders in place.

If you’re planning to take a road trip this summer or spend more time outside than last year, you may want to check out the price of gas in your area. Gas prices have climbed over the past year and as Insider’s Heather Schlitz reported, the American Automobile Association said gas prices could reach a seven-year high, increasing to $3.25 by the end of August.

Gas prices vary depending on where you live in the US.

This map shows the price of regular gasoline per gallon as of July 5, 2021 using data from the US Energy Information Administration. The map is split into Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts, or PADD regions, where each state belongs to a region. We highlighted the prices for the sub-PADDs that make up the East Coast, as the EIA data shows that prices differ within the East Coast region.

Regular gas prices in the West Coast PADD were higher than other regions at $3.84 per gallon. Regular gas prices in the Lower Atlantic PADD, which includes states like Florida and Georgia, were $2.92 per gallon.

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June 29, 2021

As gas soars to its highest price in 7 years, a shortage of tank truck drivers may leave some stations without any this holiday weekend

Gas prices are at an almost 7 year high, at about $3.10 a gallon for regular.
An estimated 47 million Americans are expected to travel by car this weekend, AAA reported.
They may not find gas at stations due to a tank truck driver shortage, CNN reported.
See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Gas prices will be the highest they’ve been in nearly seven years and some gas stations may not even have any, CNN reported.

The average cost for a regular gallon is the highest since October 2014 at about $3.10.

GasBuddy Head of Petroleum Analysis Patrick de Hann said that the high price is likely to remain high after the holiday weekend.

Additionally, a shortage of tank truck drivers who drive gas to stations could mean some stations may not have any gas at all.

Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for the Oil Price Information Service, told CNN the shortages are spread out across the country.

“It used to be an afterthought for station owners to schedule truck deliveries. Now it’s job No. 1,” Kloza told CNN. “What I’m worried about for July is the increased demand works out to about 2,500 to 3,000 more deliveries needed every day. There just aren’t the drivers to do that.”

De Hann said the demand for oil is still the same, so the lack of gas at stations is simply due to the shortage of drivers.

More than 47 million Americans are expected to travel by car this July 4 weekend, AAA is forecasting.

Klonza told CNN that not finding gas at stations could mean people start topping off their tanks more frequently, which may in and of itself cause a shortage down the line.

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May 13, 2021

The Colonial Pipeline is back up, but gas shortages have gotten worse and it’ll take time to make up the shortfall

The Colonial Pipeline shut down for several days after a cyberattack and was restored on Wednesday.
The pipeline transports nearly half of all fuel on the east coast of the US.
It will likely take days to weeks for gas stations to return to normal.
See more stories on Insider’s business page.

The Colonial Pipeline was back in action Wednesday night after a cyberattack led to gas shortages and outages across the East Coast, but experts warn it could take days to weeks for gas prices and availability to return to normal.

The Colonial Pipeline is the largest pipeline of refined oil products in the US, transporting over 45% of all fuel used on the East Coast (when not affected by a cyberattack) to more than 50 million people.

Following the hack and pipeline shutdown, several states declared states of emergency because of gas shortages, including North Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia. As shortages and outages swept the coast, gas prices skyrocketed.

AAA’s website noted that national gas prices hit an average of $3.03 on Thursday, the highest level since 2014.

US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced on Thursday morning that the attempt to restart the pipeline on Wednesday night was a success.

-Secretary Jennifer Granholm (@SecGranholm) May 13, 2021

Echoing Granholm’s tweet, the Colonial Pipeline also released a statement on Thursday to say that each market it services should begin to receive petroleum products from the pipeline by midday.

Still, experts predict that it will take days to weeks for gas availability to return to normal – partly because people have been panic-buying and hoarding gas.

Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia will likely take the longest to recover.

-Patrick De Haan ⛽️📊 (@GasBuddyGuy) May 13, 2021

Previous reports suggested that Colonial Pipeline would not pay the $5 million in ransom requested by the hacking group behind the attack, DarkSide, but a new report from Bloomberg indicates that the company paid the ransom in cryptocurrency “within hours” of the attack.

The hacking group behind the cyberattack, DarkSide, received $5 million in ransom from Colonial Pipeline, Bloomberg reported.

Since the attack, Colonial Pipeline’s website has added a CAPTCHA security check before entering the site, seemingly in an effort to prevent a future hack. The company has been searching for a cybersecurity manager for at least 30 days, according to a posting on the company’s open job listings.

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May 13, 2021

US says fuel supplies should be ‘back to normal’ by the weekend as key pipeline restarts after cyberattack

GettyImages 1232845374 — Signs reading “out of gas” cover screens on pumps at a gas station on May 12, 2021 near Four Oaks, North Carolina. Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images

The Colonial Pipeline began resuming service Wednesday evening.
With that, the US Secretary of Energy said “things will be back to normal” by the end of the weekend.
The pipeline, which transports 45% of the fuel used by the East Coast, shut down last week following a cyberattack.
See more stories on Insider’s business page.

The Colonial Pipeline is back up and running with full operations expected by this weekend, which should bring gas shortages in part sparked by panic buying to an end.

The Colonial Pipeline, the top US fuel pipeline, restarted Wednesday evening, and reported “product delivery has commenced in a majority of the markets we service.”

The successful restart “should mean things will return to normal by the end of the weekend,” US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said on Twitter Thursday.

-Secretary Jennifer Granholm (@SecGranholm) May 13, 2021

“Following this restart, it will take several days for the product delivery supply chain to return to normal,” the company said Wednesday evening. “Some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions during the start-up period.”

The pipeline shutdown operations last week after Russian ransomware group DarkSide hacked the company’s systems and demanded money.

The company took the pipeline – which runs from Texas to the New York -area and supplies 45% of the East Coast’s fuel -offline following the attack. A private cybersecurity firm hired by Colonial and the federal government are probing the incident.

Colonial has “made substantial progress in safely restarting our pipeline system,” the company said Thursday in a statement. “By mid-day today, we project that each market we service will be receiving product from our system.”

A few remaining segments of the line will begin operating at 12 p.m. ET, the company said.

Amid the shutdown, some people resorted to panic-buying fuel. Long lines stretched around gas stations, more than 1,000 stations in the US ran dry, and the price of gas surged. Most of the shortages remained on the east coast, especially in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, a GasBuddy analyst reported.

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May 12, 2021

The Colonial Pipeline cyberattack is prompting fuel outages throughout the southeastern US

Close to 15% of gas stations in North Carolina are out of fuel, oil analyst Patrick De Haan said.
Many gas stations across the southeast are also out of gas.
The shortages are a result of a cyberattack on a pipeline that carries 45% of the East Coast’s fuel.
See more stories on Insider’s business page.

The Colonial Pipeline cyberattack is prompting fuel outages throughout the southeastern US and causing fuel prices to rise.

On Friday, the ransomware group, DarkSide, demanded money in exchange for releasing the pipeline it had compromised.

The pipeline is one of the largest in the country and runs from Texas to New York, transporting about 45% of the East Coast’s fuel, the operator said.

While operation resumed manually on segments of the pipeline on Monday, the company said it expects to restart most of the operations by the end of this week, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said

The attack has led to shortages across several states. In North Carolina, some gas stations are filled with customers trying to stock up on gas, while others have already completely run out, WJZY reported.

Tom Kloza, an analyst with Standard & Poor’s Oil Price Information Service, told the Los Angeles Times that some gas stations are selling “three or four times as much gasoline that they normally sell in a given day because people do panic.”

Prices have been on the rise in North Carolina and across the border in South Carolina, in some cases surging past $3 a gallon, WCNC reported.

AAA reported that national gas prices hit an average of $2.98 on Tuesday, the highest level in nearly six years.

WCNC also reported that the gas shortage is forcing airlines like American Airlines to add stops to two long-haul flights that have stops in Charlotte. A flight routed from Charlotte to Honolulu (HNL) will change aircraft in Dallas Fort Worth to conserve fuel and another that goes from Charlotte to London will add a stop in Boston to add fuel.

North Carolina declared a state of emergency as a result of the shortage on Monday, WLOS reported.

Georgia and Virginia have also declared a state of emergency, CNN reported.

Patrick De Haan, an oil analyst at Gas Buddy, reported that nearly 50% of the gas stations in Atlanta were out of gas by Tuesday night.

De Haan also reported that by Tuesday night, 9.4% of gas stations in Georgia, 7.5% of stations in South Carolina, and 14.7% in North Carolina were out of fuel.

More than 3% of Florida’s gas stations and 9.6% of Virginia’s gas stations are also out of gas.

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March 30, 2021

Airline stocks could climb 70% as the hard-hit sector recovers from the pandemic, Jefferies says

Flying on American Airlines during pandemic — Flying on American Airlines during the pandemic.

Thomas Pallini/Insider

Airline stocks could advance by another 70% after their 30% rise so far in 2021, said analysts at Jefferies.
American Airlines was upgraded to a hold rating from underperform as part of a look at the sector.
Commodity inflation is something to watch as a pressure point for earnings but currently works as a “tailwind”.
See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Airline stocks look set to fly up by another 70% as route changes, relatively lower oil prices and other structural considerations help guide the sector’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis, says Jefferies.

The financial services firm outlined its view on Tuesday in a note examining the implications of rising multiples after a collective 30% gain in shares of airlines in its coverage group. Airline shares have risen in recent months as part of a broader ramp-up in business activity spurred by COVID-19 vaccinations and fiscal stimulus that includes $1,400 checks now being sent to most Americans.

“The consensus view around air traffic is that 2023 looks very similar to 2019, with domestic fully recovered and international largely returning to pre-COVID levels,” the financial services firm wrote.

The S&P 500 Airline Index rose nearly 3% during Tuesday’s advancing about 31% this year. The US Global Jets ETF picked up 2.5% during the daily session and has picked up roughly 21% so far in 2021.

Considering factors including productivity improvements alongside a partial offset from net debt changes, “airlines currently trade at a 4.3 times multiple on the bull case scenario versus a historical average of 6X, implying ~70% potential upside across the group,” said Jefferies equity analysts led by Sheila Kahyaoglu.

Jefferies raised its price target on Delta Air Lines to $50 from $40, its target on Southwest Airlines to $70 from $55, and its target on United Airlines to $60 from $55.

Jefferies said commodity inflation is a “watch item” as a potential headwind to 2023 earnings for airlines, but that it’s currently a “tailwind” compared with 2019, before the pandemic emerged. “Despite the recent rise, the futures price for Brent delivery in Dec 2023 remains at ~$56, below Dec 2019 prices of ~$60” per barrel.

Jefferies’ examination included a rating upgrade for American Airlines stock to hold from underperform. It said American is best positioned to pass costs to consumers as the sole operator on 37% of its routes compared with 29% at Delta and 21% at United.

Meanwhile, American’s partnerships with JetBlue Airways and Alaska Air include a strategic exit from some less profitable routes in the Northeast and Northwest and the changes have the potential to drive total revenue up by 2.3% to $46.8 billion in 2023 from 2019.

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March 18, 2021

Oil tumbles 8% as uneven vaccine rollout threatens demand prospects

oil texas — Workers extracting oil from oil wells in the Permian Basin in Midland, Texas.

Benjamin Lowy/Getty Images

Brent and West Texas Intermediate oil futures each fell by 8% during Thursday’s session.
Rising COVID-19 cases in Europe are hurting demand prospects for oil.
A rise in the US dollar was also putting pressure on the commodity.
See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Oil prices were sharply knocked down Thursday, hurt in part by a dimmer outlook from Europe as the region battles rising COVID-19 cases counts and a sluggish rollout of vaccinations to curb the spread of the disease.

Brent oil, the international benchmark, extended its run of losses into a fifth session and West Texas Intermediate crude was in its sixth consecutive session in the red.

“Europe is struggling with COVID. Their pickup in crude demand is likely to lag the Americas and it’s probably going to really threaten a lot of hopes that we were going to see a big pickup this summer,” Ed Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, told Insider on Thursday.

Brent oil fell 8% to $62.52 barrel and WTI fell by 8.3% to $59.25 per barrel.

Several European countries were recording a rise in coronavirus infections, prompting France on Thursday to declare new lockdown measures in Paris while Italy this week imposed movement restrictions.

Oil prices found no relief Thursday from the European Medicines Agency’s ruling that AstraZeneca‘s coronavirus vaccine developed with Oxford University is safe to use. The review came after several European countries suspended the vaccine’s use following reports of blood clots in some people who had been injected with the formula.

Meanwhile, oil was under pressure in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on Wednesday during which it upgraded its growth projections for the US economy.

“You have a stronger dollar which has emerged from the surge in Treasury yields, which is also weighing on commodities as well,” said Moya. The US Dollar Index rose 0.5% to 91.87.

The 10-year Treasury note yield note yield surged past 1.7% on Thursday, marking a fresh 14-month high and the 30-year yield rose to 2.5% for the first time since August 2019. Higher yields tend to make the greenback more attractive to holders of other currencies.

While the outlook for European oil demand looks weakened by the COVID crisis, there are still expectations for stronger oil demand from the US with vaccinations on the rise, said Moya.

“It’s going to be a very busy summer travel season and I think jet fuel demand will also bounce back. We haven’t seen airlines really increase their flights…but once we start to see that, that’s going to be very positive for the demand forecast.”

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March 4, 2021

Oil surges 5% following reports OPEC+ will extend production cuts through April

Oil prices surged by more than 5% after OPEC and its allies reportedly agreed to keep output levels steady.
Saudi Arabia committed to sticking with a voluntary oil supply cut of 1 million barrels per day.
The supply decision by OPEC+ is “incredibly bullish” for the oil market, says one analyst.
Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

Oil prices soared Thursday in the wake of reports that major oil producers have agreed to keep their supply cuts intact through next month.

OPEC and its allies had been discussing whether or not to restore as much as 1.5 million barrels a day of oil production. The group ultimately decided that it will leave output at current levels, according to a Bloomberg report.

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, committed to extend its voluntary cut of 1 million barrels of oil per day. The oil market officials meet via video-conference. The discussion took place at a time when recovery in the oil market is still taking hold after a plunge in demand because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prices for Brent crude, the international benchmark, jumped as much as 5.3% to an intraday high of $67.47, with the gain later trimmed to 4.7%.

The decision by OPEC+ was “incredibly bullish,” and Saudi Arabia’s decision “was shocking as it leaves them vulnerable to losing market share next month when the oil market is in deficit by a couple million barrels,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note.

West Texas Intermediate oil futures also popped up as much as 5.3% to an intraday high of $64.51. The continuous contract was later up by 4.6%.

The Energy Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund climbed 3.8% and the United States Oil Fund, a popular oil ETF, moved up 6%.

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