Gas Shortages, Price Hikes Reported Amid Colonial Pipeline Shutdown: CNBC After Hours

CNBC.com's MacKenzie Sigalos brings you the day's top business news headlines. On today's show, Jeff Cox breaks down this morning's JOLTS survey and the record high eight million open jobs. Plus, Pippa Stevens explains how last week's cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline is leading to fuel shortages and rising gas prices.

Pipeline shutdown could push prices at the pump above $3 a gallon, highest since 2014

Gas prices could rise to their highest level since 2014 as portions of the Colonial Pipeline remain shutdown.

The national average for a gallon of gas stood at $2.985 on Tuesday, up 6 cents over the last week. A gain of 3 more cents would take the national average to its highest level since November 2014.

"AAA forecasts gas prices to climb this week in reaction to the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline," the road travel organization said in a statement. "The longer the pipeline is offline, the larger the impact on the east coast."

Colonial Pipeline, which connects the Gulf Coast to the Northeast, transports roughly 45% of the East Coast's fuel in a network stretching 5,500 miles. The system was taken offline Friday after the company fell victim to a ransomware cyberattack.

Job openings leaped above 8 million in March, a new record high

Job openings popped to a record high in March as employers struggled to find workers to fill those positions, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.

Even as help wanted jumped from February by 597,000, or 8%, to 8.12 million, hires rose just 215,000, or 3.7%, to just over 6 million.

Total separations declined, falling by 107,000 to 5.32 million.

The total number of employment opportunities set a new standard for the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, which goes back to December 2000.

The report comes amid growing concerns about employers being able to find enough workers to fill openings, which in turn could make the economic recovery slower than anticipated.

Ethereum, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, soars above $4,000 for the first time

LONDON — Ether surged past $4,000 Monday to hit a new record high, extending a stunning rally for the world's second-largest cryptocurrency.

Ether, the digital token of the Ethereum blockchain, rose to an all-time high of $4,196.63 at 12:15 p.m. ET, according to Coin Metrics. It now has a total market value of $483.4 billion, less than half bitcoin's $1.09 trillion.

As of around 12:30 p.m. ET, ether was up 8.1% at a price of $4,187.32. Bitcoin, on the other hand, inched up 1.1% to $57,962.18.

Once in bitcoin's shadow, ether has seen parabolic gains recently as investors look to other cryptocurrencies for returns. Bitcoin fell over 2% in April, while ether rose more than 40%. The entire crypto market is currently worth around $2.5 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap, on the back of growing interest in the space.

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