RATES, PRICES and other economic data for the Mid-coast on Oct. 29. New this week: commodities, monthly retail sales, Sept. building permits, bank rates
| Commodities | |||||
| This | Last | Last | |||
| week | week | year | |||
| Heating oil #21 | $3.47 | $3.47 | — | ||
| Propane2 | . | 2.88 | 2.93 | — | |
| Gas, unlead3 | . | 3.40 | 3.43 | 3.67 | |
| Kerosene1 | . | 3.87 | 3.84 | — | |
| Firewood, dry4 | 235 | 235 | 215 | ||
| 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 | ||||
| Aug. | July | Aug. ’12 | |||
| B’wick | area . | $ | 68,397$ | 66,585$63,561 | |
| 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 | |||||||
| Sept. | Aug. | Sept. | ‘12 | |||||
| Bath | . | $ | 156,100$ | 2,018,300 | $ | 203,100 | ||
| B’wick | . | 1,296,680 | 4,186,776 | 242,700 | ||||
| F’port | . | 2,516,154 | 802,500 | 2,377,201 | ||||
| Bank rates | |||
| This | week | Last week | |
| 30-year mortgage9 | . | 4.22% | 4.48% |
| 1-year CD10 | 0.22% | 0.22% | |
| – |
QUOTED DATA is deemed an accurate reflection of average economic conditions on the date listed; consumers may not be able to obtain the exact price or rate listed. Sources: 1– TR survey of local dealers, . is week to week 2– TR survey of local dealers, based on 600 gal/yr., . is week to week 3 – TR staff survey averaged, . is week to week 4 – split, delivered, TR survey, averaged 5 – TR wholesalers survey, per pound, . is week to week 6 – Maine Department of Labor, not seasonally adjusted, . is year to year 7 – Maine State Planning Office, in thousands . is year to year 8 – Total project value, permits filed in town offices, . is year to year 9 – 30- year, fixed-rate loan of $165,000, 0 points, TR survey of local banks, averaged, . is week to week 10 – TR survey of rates from local banks, averaged, . is week to week.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less