Oil and Gas Rotary Rig Counts: The total number of operating rigs in Canada for the week ending December 30th was 25 oil and 59 gas (totaling 84). In percentage terms, on a month on month (m/m) basis, oil rigs were down 80.5% and gas down 11.9%. On a year on year (y/y) comparison, rigs were down 35.9% for oil and up 15.7% for gas. The combined figure for y/y was -6.7% or -6 rigs.

Oil and Gas Rotary Rig Counts: The total number of operating rigs in the U.S. for the week ending December 30th was 621 oil and 156 gas (totaling 777). In percentage terms, on a month on month (m/m) basis, oil rigs were down 1.0% and gas was up 0.6%. On a year on year (y/y) comparison, rigs were up 29.4% for oil and up 47.2% for gas. The combined figure for y/y was +32.9%, or +193 rigs.

Employment by Industry (U.S.): In December 2022, the total number of seasonally adjusted (SA), non-farm people employed in the U.S. was 153.7 million (M) – an increase of 223,000 (+0.1%) month on month (m/m). When compared to December 2021, total employment is up by 3.0% year on year (y/y). Among the employment sectors that we track at Gerdau, we saw the greatest monthly gain in the transportation equipment sector with a growth of 0.9% m/m.

Crude Oil & Natural Gas Pricing: December’s average West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil price per barrel decreased 9% month on month (m/m). The WTI is up 7% year on year (y/y), coming in at $76.44 / barrel in December 2022 vs. $71.71 / barrel in December 2021.

Currency Report: The trade-weighted U.S. Broad Dollar Index posted a reading of 122.333 in December, down 2.15% m/m, steadily decreasing for the second month. This index value is up 5.62% on a year on year (y/y) basis. Month over month, we saw the Brazilian real, Chinese yuan, Japanese yen, and South Korean won strengthen vs. the USD in December.

Advance Durable Goods Orders: The U.S. Census Bureau reported that new orders for durable goods in November 2022 decreased 2.1% (m/m) to $270.6M, following the 0.7% increase in October. The always-volatile nondefense aircraft orders, up 44.8% y/y, influenced this trend significantly.