Price of gas up by 5 cents
The price of gasoline climbed by a nickel last week to an average of $2.30 nationwide.
The federal Energy Information Administration said Monday that U.S. motorists paid $2.297 a gallon on average for regular grade last week, an increase of 5.1 cents from the previous week.
Pump prices are now 15 cents higher than a year ago and roughly 75 cents a gallon lower since the start of August.
Gasoline prices were most expensive last week on the West Coast, averaging $2.485 per gallon, and cheapest in the Gulf Coast region, averaging $2.182 per gallon, according to the EIA.
Memphis, Tenn.
FedEx to raise shipment rates
FedEx Corp. said Monday it will increase standard list rates for FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery shipments by an average 4.9 percent on Jan. 1.
FedEx announced last month that rates for its FedEx Express shipments in the United States and for export will increase by 3.5 percent at the first of the year, when a decrease in fuel surcharges of 2 percentage points is factored in.
United Parcel Service Inc., a major FedEx competitor, has also announced rate increases next year. UPS will raise list rates by 4.9 percent for ground shipments and 4.9 percent for air express shipments, when factoring in a 2 percentage point reduction in fuel surcharges.
New York
Advertising growth may slow
Two advertising forecasters said Monday they expect slower growth in U.S. advertising next year, when the industry won’t have the twin benefits of the Olympic Games and closely contested U.S. elections.
Universal McCann forecaster Robert Coen said he expected “quite modest” growth of 4.8 percent in U.S. advertising in 2007, saying it would probably be 2008 before any significant improvement comes.
Coen also said total U.S. advertising growth would be 5.2 percent this year, below his previous forecast of 5.8 percent expansion.
Meanwhile, ZenithOptimedia, a British advertising firm, said it expects U.S. major media advertising growth of 4.1 percent next year, versus 5.2 percent this year. ZenithOptimedia and Universal McCann calculate their forecasts based on slightly different sets of data.