Fuel prices are displayed on a pump at a Mobil gas station in the Brooklyn borough of New York February 3, 2016. The dramatic drop in the price of oil since 2014 has delivered only a muted boost to the U.S. economy, but that could change if households start figuring cheap oil is here to stay. That conclusion, in research published Monday by the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, suggests that the longer the price of oil stays low, the better the news is for a recovery that has been moderate at best. That’s significant for a central bank that is seeking evidence that the economy is strong enough for it to continue to raise interest rates from their current level of 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent. Oil currently sells near $40 a barrel, down from around $100 a barrel two years ago, but households have generally assumed the […]