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Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned in his testimony to the U.S. Senate indicated that “the outlook for the economy is extraordinarily uncertain and will depend, in large part, on the success of efforts to keep the virus in check”. The Fed Chair also discussed the hurdles associated with a vaccination program “… significant challenges and uncertainties remain, including timing, production and distribution, and efficacy across different groups”. Powell acknowledged that much work remains to be done. “We are committed to using our full range of tools to support the economy and to help assure that the recovery from this difficult period will be as robust as possible.“
The EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report showed that inventories U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) decreased by 0.7 million barrels for the week as of November 27, 2020. At 488.0 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 7% above the five-year average for this time of year. Refineries operated at 78.2% of their operable capacity. Both Gasoline and distillate fuel production dropped by a combined 13.2 million barrels per day. Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 19.3 million barrels a day, a decrease of 9.0% from the same period last year.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported the unemployment rate fell to 6.7% in November, showing a slight improvement over October’s 6.9%. The economy added 245,000 jobs, down from 610,000 in October. The figure represents the fewest jobs number in 7 months. A bright spot in the report was transportation and warehousing which added 145,000 jobs. In addition, professional and business services, health care, and construction and manufacturing all showed job gains. Leisure and hospitality added just 31,000 jobs. Retail jobs dropped by 35,000 ahead of the holiday shopping season, while foodservice establishments lost 17,000.
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