TheStreet’s Conway Gittens brings you the biggest news of the day, including what investors are watching and how you might be feeling major relief at the pump by Thanksgiving.
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00:00I'm Conway Gittins reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here's what we're watching on the street today.
00:04Wall Street is taking a disappointing jobs report in stride. The U.S. economy only added
00:12142,000 jobs in August. That was less than the
00:16160,000 jobs expected, but higher than the downwardly revised
00:2089,000 for July.
00:22Investors are taking comfort, however, in the first drop in the unemployment rate in five months to 4.2 percent.
00:29Altogether, the report leaves the door open for a modest interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve when it meets in September.
00:38In other top news, inflation is still a problem,
00:41but there are fresh signs that it is loosening its grip. The average price to fill up at the pump hit
00:47$3.31 during the first week of August,
00:50according to AAA. That's down 50 cents from a year ago and the lowest price we've seen in six months.
00:56The good news doesn't stop there. Americans could see average gasoline prices drop below $3 by Thanksgiving,
01:03according to Patrick Dahan of GasBuddy.
01:05Quote, as long as we don't see a major hurricane head into the Gulf and the situation improves in the Middle East,
01:12the national average could fall below $3 in the next two months.
01:16GasBuddy is already tracking eight states at that level or lower.
01:20So why are gas prices falling? Number one,
01:23it's seasonal. Gas prices typically drop this time of year as Labor Day marks the end of the peak summer driving season.
01:30Number two, it's global. Right now,
01:33the global market is oversupplied and oil demand is weak around the world.
01:38The law of supply and demand dictates that when supply is high and demand is low, then prices fall.
01:43The drop in gasoline prices has wider implications for your wallet. Elevated energy costs
01:49originally fed into the inflation spike that prompted the Fed to hike rates to a 25-year high.
01:55Now that that reverse is happening, the Fed has room to lower interest rates,
02:00which means cheaper borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans, and credit cards.
02:05That'll do it for your daily briefing from the New York Stock Exchange. I'm Conway Gittens with The Street.