The US Energy Information Administration reported that US commercial crude oil stockpiles increased by 2.0M barrels to 416.8M barrels (15% below the five-year average) for the week ending June 3rd.  Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in the commercial crude stockpile, declined by 7.3M barrels to 519.3M barrels. Crude oil refinery inputs averaged 16.4M barrels per day, an increase of 355K barrels per day as compared to the previous week’s average. Gasoline inventories decreased by 0.8M barrels (10% below the five-year average), and distillate inventories increased by 2.6M barrels (23% below the five-year average) to 218.2M barrels. Refineries operated at 94.2% of their operable capacity, as gasoline production increased averaging 10.0M barrels per day. Crude oil imports came in at 6.6M barrels per day, an increase of 299K barrels per day as compared to the previous week. Crude oil imports averaged about 6.4M barrels per day over the last four weeks, 1.9% more than the same period last year. Total commercial petroleum inventories increased by 11.0M barrels last week.

The Labor Department reported an increase in initial jobless claims for the week ending June 4th. The seasonally adjusted initial claims reported in at 229,000, an increase of 27,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised level. The previous week’s initial claims value was revised from 200,000 to 202,000. The four-week moving average, which smooths out volatility was 215,000 an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised average. Georgia (+1,817), Florida (+1,695), and Pennsylvania (+1,089) led the increase in initial claims, while Michigan (-2,078) and Mississippi (-1,825) saw decreases. For the week ending May 28th, the number of people continuing to claim unemployment also known as insured unemployment remained at .09%. Continuing claims remained unchanged from the previous week’s revised 1.306M. The continuing claims 4-week moving average was 1,317,500 a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level since hitting 1,310,250 in January of 1970. For the week ending May 21st, 1,283,684 people were receiving jobless benefits through state or federal programs, a decrease of 35,619 from the previous week’s level. There were some 15,385,233 weekly claims filed for the comparable week in 2021.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the consumer price index rose 1.0% in May and follows a 0.3% increase in April. Over the last 12 months, the all items index is up 8.6% before seasonal adjustment, the fastest rate since 1981. Increases in the indexes for shelter (+0.6%), gasoline (+4.1%), and food (+1.2%) were the largest contributors to the seasonally adjusted all items increase. Indexes for airfares (+12.6%), used cars and trucks (+1.8%), and dairy products (+2.9%) all saw significant increases. After declining in April, the energy index rose 3.9%. Shelter which accounts for one-third of the CPI had its fastest one-month gain since March 2004 and is up 5.5% year over year, the fastest since February 1991. Core CPI, which excludes the more volatile food and energy costs increased a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in May, mirroring April’s reading. The shelter index was a primary contributor to the Core CPI monthly increase. The annual rate of core CPI inflation is 6.0%, down from 6.2% in April. March's 6.5% core CPI inflation rate was the highest reading since August 1982.