Price of oil falls

Price of oil falls

The price of oil fell Monday as traders concerned about global energy demand took profits ahead of economic data from China and the United States.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for July delivery was down 50 cents to $93.65 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 10 cents to $94.15 a barrel Friday.

Analysts said traders took profits before May unemployment data is released today in Washington, which should help clarify the state of the recovery in the world’s biggest economy.

“We’re starting to build confidence in the economic data, but that’s not going to stop anyone from taking money off the table ahead of a long weekend,” Carl Larry of Oil Outlooks and Opinions said in a market commentary, referring to Monday’s Memorial Day holiday in the U.S.

Monday also was a public holiday in Britain.

Bridge fall affects major trade artery

SEATTLE

For farmers, business owners and government officials up and down the West Coast, Washington’s bridge collapse on Interstate 5 represents much more than a close brush with tragedy. As much as $20 billion in freight travels to and from Canada and along the busy north-south corridor each year.

People in Canada won’t go hungry if no Washington apples are trucked to them. But the American apple farmers may feel a pinch, said Don Alper, director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University in Bellingham, about 20 miles north of the Skagit River.

“It’s a huge commercial artery,” Alper said. “If things happen to it, it can have huge economic ramifications.”

Associated Press