Oil is right now below $98 barrel. It will change by the end of the day I'm sure

Unemployment dropped to 8.1% good for Obama. I'll take a .1 drop for the next couple of months.

Local issue related to oil.
Sunoco just around the corner is selling gas for $3.51
Just near there we have a Kangaroo convenience store selling it for $3.55
half mile away is another convenience store selling BP gas for $3.53
And a Gogas at #3.54
All of these places are within a 3 mile radius of each other.
Yet, you go outside that radius and gas jumps to $3.79 to $3.83 - and that goes for GoGas, BP and others.
I don't get this. Why are gas prices so diverse right now? I mean same brand of gas same C-store and the prices are way out of line........

Best Regards
Vog

Gas prices are always higher in Wilmington than on the outskirts of town. And that is only worse during tourist season and even worse over the 3 summer holiday periods (Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day). You're just noticing that?

Employment figures, or the economy, are not looking good. Unless/until we have a Congress willing to work with the President to create jobs we are at the mercy of things like "consumer confidence" to trigger positive moves. If people, and most importantly employers, start to feel the economy is faltering - it will falter.

The GOP has been ripping apart what the latest figures mean and are quick to point out "real" unemployment has risen. We are down to less that 2/3 (63%) of "the potential labor force" actually engaged in work (or actively seeking work). There are so many reasons for that, but the GOP blames it all on Obama.

Real U-3 Unemployment Rate: 11.6%



What happened during the recession when lay-offs peaked is that many 60-something baby-boomers "gave up" after they were unable to find comparable work in their profession/trade at the pay-scale they had been accustomed to receiving - and Unemployment Insurance expired. My 62 year old brother was one of them, for example. Since his wife was able to hang on to her job, and they still had healthcare through her company-funded insurance, he opted for "early retirement". With so many baby-boomers coming of age - this is becoming the new normal.

The GOP will argue that those "freeloaders" milked Unemployment and could have found work as a Wall-Mart Greeter or an "associate" at Home Depot. But the fact is, there are only so many Wall-Mart Greeter and Home Depot jobs (or any minimum-wage retail jobs) out there. Common sense tells you that people who could "afford" to retire early are doing so. That explains the vast majority of the rise in what they like to call "real" unemployment.

But those suffering from Obama Derangement Syndrome make it sound like the reason for it is that people are just lazy and taking advantage of "Obama's socialist handouts". For example, labeling Obama as "The Food Stamp President" because so many have been forced into lower paying jobs that now qualify them for assistance is not the same as "just giving up" to "take advantage of government welfare" - which is the picture the GOP is trying to paint of the situation. The same has happened with Medicaid.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that as people’s incomes fall, the need and use of social “safety net” programs will rise. But again, to the GOP, and anyone stupid enough to buy their bullshit - it’s all Obama’s fault.

So increases in part-time employment – as well as temporary workers - is another figure you have to look at to get “the big picture". In that 8.1% figure, part-time and temporary employees are still looked at as "employed". The employment situation – and how the amount of “disposable income” that drives the economy has been dwindling - is really much bleaker that most commonly used unemployment figure is showing.

We cannot sustain this type of economy much longer. We need to figure out ways to raise revenues. And yet now is not the time to be cutting social programs. Unless someone comes up with a way of rebuilding the middle class – creating an economy that provides real jobs that are able to sustain a family above poverty levels – we a screwed, and the America that we had all become accustomed to is gone forever.

Cleve.
OK lets go through this slowly. The ONLY outlier is Sunoco at Dawson and 17th ($3.49 today). This is the only Sunoco station in Wilmington. Now head down 17th towards the hospital - GoGas is at $3.49. 3.5 miles away GoGas on S College is #3.75 a 26 cent difference
Continue down 17th toward the hospital. At 17th and Wellington theres a BP scotchman selling BP gas for $3.53. Less than 1.5 miles away theres a Scotchman BP on Shipyard selling BP gas for $3.75 a 22 cvent difference.
Don't tell me they order gas separately because you & I both know they don't. Theres one order for all GoGas stations and one for all Scotchmans that sell BP and its all at the same price. I think someone is gouging the customers. Yet when I queried MyReporter for the Star News they dredged up a 3 year old article about gas prices and how they can differ.
Total unadulterated BS if you ask me.
I can see the difference between gas brands and convenience store chains but to have this type of discrepancy within the same chain less than 4 miles apart strikes me as MORE than odd - it strikes me as greed, or gouging.
BTW people are waiting in line on Dawson to get into the Sunoco same with people on 17th at the GoGas, be careful driving on 17th.........its a zoo.

Best Regards
Vog