Puffs of Inflation

All along the price front last week inflationary puffs sent prices soaring. Crude oil rose 35-c- a barrel in Texas to a record $3.25, the first price hike in more than three years. Next day gasoline followed, with a 1-c- per gallon increase at the pump. As a result of a $40 million wage increase that went into effect Jan. 1 as part of last summer's steel contract, and the Government's refusal to approve fast tax write-offs for expansion, the steel industry posted price increases ranging from 1% on hot rolled strip to 5% on plate. In the textile industry, synthetic yarns went up as much as 25-c- per lb. for nylon, 11-c- for dacron, bringing immediate wholesale price increases.

The oil increase, which will affect consumers the most, started after Humble Oil failed to persuade the Texas Railroad Commission to raise state oil output to meet the big European demand brought on by the closing of the Suez Canal (TIME, Jan. 7). To get the oil it needed, said Humble, it had to raise its bidding price for crude by 12%. This put pressure on competitors, brought an immediate increase from Continental Oil, with the others expected to follow. By week's end oilmen figured that the increases would cost U.S. consumers an extra $1 billion for petroleum this year.

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