ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

Oil prices fell below $77 a barrel Wednesday following a Department of Energy report that showed diesel and gasoline inventories improved last week even though oil stockpiles declined, Bloomberg reported.

Retail sales fell for a second straight month in June, slipping 0.5%, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Business inventories rose 0.1% in May, the smallest gain this year, as sales fell, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

The price of goods imported to the United States fell 1.3% in June, the most since January 2009, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

The recession appears to be waning, but trucking still is feeling the downturn’s effects and is keeping a watchful eye on expenses, including insurance.

Massachusetts has indefinitely suspended a 2% biodiesel mandate for fuel and heating oil that was to take effect this month, saying that without the federal tax credit for the producers, the cost of biodiesel would be too high for consumers.

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governors kicked off a campaign for diesel idle reduction in the Washington/Baltimore region Tuesday, supported by several other groups including American Trucking Associations and the American Bus Association.

The U.S. trade deficit widened 4.8% in May to the highest level in a year and a half, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.