RATES, PRICES and other economic data for the Mid-coast on Sept. 24. New this week: commodities, Aug. unemployment, July retail sales, bank rates
Commodities
| This | Last | Last | ||
| week | week | year | ||
| Heating oil #21 | . | $3.49 | $3.50 | — |
| Propane2 | . | 2.90 | 2.88 | — |
| Gas, unlead3 | . | 3.65 | 3.69 | 3.93 |
| Kerosene1 | . | 3.87 | 3.90 | — |
| Firewood, dry4 | 235 | 235 | 205 | |
| Hard lobster, | whsl | — | — | — |
| Soft lobster, whsl | — | — | — |
Unemployment6
| Aug. | July | Aug. ’12 | ||
| Bath | . | 5.6% | 5.9% | 6.3% |
| Brunswick | . | 6.0% | 6.4% | 6.5% |
| Freeport | . | 4.5% | 5.0% | 5.2% |
| Harpswell | . | 4.9% | 4.5% | 4.8% |
| Lisbon | . | 6.2% | 6.1% | 6.6% |
| Richmond | . | 5.8% | 7.3% | 6.9% |
| Topsham | . | 5.5% | 6.0% | 5.7% |
| Wiscasset | . | 4.6% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
Retail sales7
| July | June | July ’12 | |||
| B’wick | area . | $66,585 | $66,297 | $62,921 | |
| Q2 | Q1 | Q2‘12 | |||
| Bath | . | $20,515 | $16,891 | $20,031 | |
| Brunswick | . | 91,183 | 69,269 | 86,068 | |
| Freeport | . | 67,338 | 48,105 | 61,859 | |
| Harpswell | . | 4,765 | 2,411 | 4,369 | |
| Lisbon | . | 9,749 | 8,423 | 9,564 | |
| Richmond | . | 4,132 | 3,345 | 3,837 | |
| Topsham | . | 46,678 | 37,678 | 46,359 | |
| Wiscasset | . | 17,706 | 12,426 | 16,419 |
Building permits8
| July | June | July ‘12 | ||
| Bath | . | $47,100 | $523,000 | $50,300 |
| B’wick | . | 1,975,969 698,944 | 760,237 | |
| F’port | . | 1,386,000 | 1,475,700 | 1,042,147 |
Bank rates
| This week | Last week | |||
| 30- | year | mortgage9 | . 4.52% | 4.73% |
| 1-year | CD10 | 0.22% | 0.22% |
QUOTED DATA is deemed an accurate reflection of average economic conditions on the date listed. Sources: 1– TR survey of local dealers 2– TR survey of local dealers based on 600 gal/yr., 3 – TR staff survey averaged, 4 – split, delivered, TR survey averaged 5 – TR wholesalers survey, per pound, 6 – Maine Department of Labor, not seasonally adjusted, 7 – Maine State Planning Office, in thousands 8 – Total project value, permits filed in town offices, 9 – 30-year, fixed-rate loan of $165,000, 0 points, TR survey of local banks, averaged, 10 – TR survey of rates from local banks, averaged.
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