Crude Oil & Natural Gas Pricing: August’s average West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil price per barrel decreased 8% month on month (m/m). The WTI is up 38% year on year (y/y), coming in at $93.67 / barrel in August 2022 vs. $67.73 / barrel in August 2021.

Oil and Gas Rotary Rig Counts: The total number of operating rigs in Canada for the week ending August 26th was 136 oil and 65 gas (totaling 201). In percentage terms, on a month on month (m/m) basis, oil rigs were down 0.7% and gas down 3.0%. On a year on year (y/y) comparison, rigs were up 6.0% for oil and up 4.8% for gas. The combined figure for y/y was +36.7% or 54 rigs.

Oil and Gas Rotary Rig Counts: The total number of operating rigs in the U.S. for the week ending August 26th was 605 oil and 158 gas (totaling 763). In percentage terms, on a month on month (m/m) basis, oil rigs were flat, and gas was up 0.6%. On a year on year (y/y) comparison, rigs were up 47.6% for oil and up 62.9% for gas. The combined figure for y/y was +50.6%, or +257 rigs.

Currency Report: The trade-weighted U.S. Broad Dollar Index posted a reading of 122.426 in August, down 0.32% m/m, reversing trend after steadily increasing the last five months. This index value is up 7.93% on a year on year (y/y) basis.

Employment by Industry (U.S.): In August 2022, the total number of seasonally adjusted (SA), non-farm people employed in the U.S. was 153 million (M) – an increase of 315,000 (+0.2%) month on month (m/m). When compared to August 2021, total employment is up by 4.0% year on year (y/y). Among the employment sectors that we track at Gerdau, we saw the greatest monthly gain in the mining and logging sector with a growth of 1.1% m/m.

Advance Durable Goods Orders: The U.S. Census Bureau reported that new orders for durable goods in July 2022 remained flat month on month (m/m) to $273.4M, following the 2.2% increase in June. The always-volatile nondefense aircraft orders, up 55.4% y/y, influenced this trend significantly.