Gas prices increase but local rates lower
Gasoline prices continued to rise across Tennessee in the past week, according to fuel price surveys released Monday.
Although Chattanooga has the cheapest average price of regular fuel among Tennessee cities, prices at the pump were still up 2.5 cents a gallon, on average, at the 170 Chattanooga stations surveyed by the online gas price reporting service GasBuddy.com. Gas prices in Chattanooga averaged $2.78 a gallon on Monday, or $1.02 per gallon higher than a year ago.
Nationwide, gas prices rose 0.6 cents a gallon to $2.43 a gallon for regular fuel, GasBuddy.com said.
"We're entering our fourth straight week with the national average above the key $3 per gallon level, but while gas prices haven't broken past the low $3s, they have also failed to decline much from their peak as demand for gasoline continues to push higher as the summer driving season is underway," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. "Crude oil is on the rise and could prop up pump prices."
Jiffy Lube planned on Signal Mountain Road
A Jiffy Lube location is going up in a Chattanooga shopping center off of Signal Mountain Road.
The oil-change business should be open in late summer at the site which is close to an Aldi grocery store near Mountain Creek Road, according to builder Knoebel Construction Inc.
The Chesterfield, Missouri, company said the Jiffy Lube oil change center will be about 3,500 square feet.
Norwegian Cruise Line to require vaccinations
Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings on Monday announced plans to set sail from two Florida ports requiring passengers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 despite state legislation banning businesses from asking for proof.
Norwegian announced sailings from New York, Los Angeles, Port Canaveral and Miami.
Carnival Cruise Line, also based in Miami, announced sailings from the Port of Galveston, Texas, with vaccinated guests and was working with Florida officials for a ship to leave from PortMiami.
The cruise lines' plans appear to be at odds with the new state law. The sailings are contingent on obtaining a certificate from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and it remains unclear how the plans can be reconciled with Florida law.
Consumer borrowing jumps during April
U.S. consumer borrowing rose by $18.6 billion in April, fueled by a big rise in auto and student loans that offset a drop in credit card use.
The April gain reported Monday by the Federal Reserve was the third straight month of strong increases in consumer borrowing. It followed a similar $18.6 billion increase in March.
The latest increase reflected a $20.6 billion increase in the Fed's category that covers auto and student loans. It was the biggest increase in those loans since a $22.7 billion rise in June 2020.
The category that covers credit cards saw a decline of $2 billion, the first setback in credit card use since a sharp drop of $13.5 billion in January.
Consumer borrowing is followed closely for signals it can send about households' willingness to finance consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity.
- Compiled by Dave Flessner