Local gas prices drop 3.3 cents per gallon
Gas prices continued their three-week-long decline last week, cutting the average price of gas in Chattanooga another 3.3 cents per share to $2 per gallon, according to GasBuddy's daily survey of 170 gas outlets in Chattanooga. Local gas prices at the start of this week were 26 cents per gallon below the U.S. average of $2.26 per gallon.
"For the 22nd straight day, the national average for a gallon of gasoline has dropped, the longest such streak since last summer," said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. "Average prices now stand at their lowest thus far in 2017 and the lowest since before Christmas, thanks primarily to weak demand for gasoline and also bulging inventories of gasoline."
Including the change in gas prices in Chattanooga during the past week, local gas prices are still 47.5 cents per gallon higher than the same day one year ago when gas averaged only $1.53 per gallon. But it is more than third below the price on this date in 2014 when gas averaged $3.03 per gallon and 40 percent below the peak levels reached in 2012 when gas averaged $3.31 per gallon on this date.
"But before motorists celebrate such cheap gas [today], the sweet deal likely won't stick much longer as we've been waiting since last week to see such loss-leaders to disappear," DeHaan said. "However, we may continue to see the national average moderate during the next week."
Consumer spending up 0.5 percent in December
Consumers boosted spending in December at the fastest pace in three months, giving the economy some momentum going into 2017.
Consumer spending advanced 0.5 percent in December, a major improvement over the modest 0.2 percent gain in November, the Commerce Department reported Monday. It was the best showing since September. The increase was driven by a 1.4 percent surge in spending on durable goods, long-lasting items such as autos.
Incomes also showed some improvement, rising by 0.3 percent in December, spurred by a rebound in growth in wages and salaries.
Pending home sales rise by 1.6 percent
More Americans signed contracts to buy homes in December. The increase possibly reflects more people scrambling to purchase homes as mortgage rates have been rising and increasing the costs of ownership.
The National Association of Realtors said Monday that its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index rose 1.6 percent to 107.3, a slight rebound after declining in November. Pending sales rose in the West and South but dipped in the Northeast and Midwest.
Pending sales contracts are a barometer of future purchases. A sale is typically completed a month or two after a contract is signed.
Google launches fund for ACLU and others
Google has created a crisis fund that could raise up to $4 million for four immigrant rights organizations.
Google said it is funding an initial $2 million for the fund that can be matched with up to $2 million in donations from employees. The money will go toward the American Civil Liberties Union, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, the International Rescue Committee and the U.N. Refugee Agency. Executives are also donating separately to the effort.
Google says it's concerned about the impact President Donald Trump's order to temporarily suspend immigration from seven Muslim majority nations will have on the company's employees and their families.