Long-term unemployed, defined as individuals who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer and are actively seeking work, increased from 1.449 million in January 2025 to 1.821 million in March 2026. Oil and Gas Prices According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration , the United States has had record crude oil production each year since 2023 and led the world in crude oil production since 2018. In 2025, the U.S. produced approximately13.5 million barrels per day of crude oil. However, the U.S. exports and imports crude oil, and overall is a net importer of crude oil, exporting approximately 4 million barrels per day while importing 6.2 million barrels per day. Market economics and differences in domestically produced oil relative to foreign oil are the reasons that the U.S. both exports and imports crude oil. Crude oil is a raw material that, through processing, is turned into an array of products, including gasoline, diesel, and a wide variety of petroleum products. Oil is a global commodity, but there are generally product differences between domestically produced oil and foreign produced oil. The U.S. imports and exports crude oil because different types of oil are needed to make various products cost effectively. U.S. produced crude oil is generally lighter viscosity than imported foreign produced oil, and some petroleum products may require the heavier foreign oil. The viscosity of oil (light or heavy) and sulfur content (low or high) determine the processes and costs needed to change the oil into a petroleum product. Refineries generally match their processing capabilities with types of crude oils from around the world that enable production of needed domestic products, and products that can be profitably exported. Despite the record U.S. crude oil production, the oil may not match what is needed to make all of the products that Americans use. The top five sources of U.S. crude oil imports by percentage share of U.S. total crude oil imports in 2023 were: Canada (52%), Mexico (11%), Saudi Arabia (5%), Iraq (4%), and Brazil (3%). Oil is rarely used as a raw commodity for consumption; rather it must be refined into some type of petroleum product. Oil must be produced, refined, and then the manufactured product delivered to where there is consumer demand. Location becomes a key issue for the manufacture of petroleum products, including where the oil is produced, where the refining and manufacturing of products takes place, and where the final product must be shipped. The mix of oil prices, production costs, and transportation costs may make foreign oil cheaper to use in the manufacture of a petroleum product than domestically produced oil when all costs are considered. Although distinct markets exist for crude oil, oil prices are related due to the potential substitutability of products, and the need for different grades of oil to make needed petroleum products. It’s a global oil market. There are three prominent benchmarks for oil prices: 1) Brent crude, European oil which is derived from five different oil fields in the North Sea, 2) West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, oil extracted from U.S. Wells and sent via pipeline to Cushing, Oklahoma, and 3) Dubai crude, oil from the Middle East. According to Investopedia.com , Brent crude is the most widely used global benchmark for oil pricing, with approximately 80% of global crude contracts tied to the Brent crude oil price. Brent crude is used as the global benchmark due to its quality and relative ease of accessibility. WTI crude is the primary benchmark for the United States, while Dubai crude is the main benchmark for Persian Gulf oil. Both Brent crude and WTI crude are viewed as ideal for the refining of gas and diesel fuel, with Brent crude featuring relative ease of transportation due to its location. The graph below compares the price for 1) Brent crude (blue line, left-axis), 2) WTI crude (green line, left-axis), and 3) U.S. regular gas (brown line, right axis), over the period from January 2021 through early April 2026. Although differences exist between oil markets due to demand and supply differences that exist within the specific markets, the overall ups and downs of Brent crude (Europe) oil prices and WTI crude (U.S.) oil prices are strongly related, indicating a global energy market. Similarly, although differences exist in the factors that affect each market, the overall trend in changes in gas prices strongly reflects the overall trend in changes in oil prices. There is a strong relationship in the overall trend, with increasing gas prices generally reflecting increasing oil prices and decreasing gas prices reflecting decreasing oil prices.
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Center for Business and Economic Insight
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