The national average price for a gallon of gasoline rose for the ninth straight day on Sunday to $3.838. That is now only about 6.7% below the record high of $4.11 from July 2008.
The average price rose by three-tenths of a penny, according to the survey of gas stations conducted for the motorist group AAA. Gas prices are now up more than 17% this year.
The nationwide average was $3.52 a gallon a month ago and $3.76 a gallon on March 9 — the day that prices started rising again after a few days of slight declines.
Gasoline averages more than $4 a gallon in seven states: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, New York and Washington. Gas prices are also above $4 a gallon in the District of Columbia, according to AAA. At nearly $4.48 a gallon, Hawaii ranks as the nation’s high. Prices are less than a dime away from $4 a gallon in Michigan, Nevada, Oregon and Wisconsin.
Wyoming has the nation’s lowest gas prices, averaging slightly above $3.40 a gallon.
Gas prices have been rising on the back of soaring oil prices, which have shot up more than 5% over the past month amid fears that tensions with Iran will lead to an all-out war that causes a disruption in oil supplies.
Signs of an improving economy have also boosted oil prices, as has the stock market, which hit multi-year highs this week.
The spike in gas prices has led to speculation that the U.S. and Britain may release strategic oil reserves over the next few months in order to boost supplies and lower crude prices. The White House denied a Reuters report about this Thursday.
Pain at the pump has become a hot political issue during the presidential campaign. According to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, more people disapprove of how President Obama is handling the economy than a month ago. That’s despite improvement in the job market this year.
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3 Responses
1. Daily fluctuations are largely meaningless. Weekly mean a bit, but monthly or quarterly mean the most.
2. The real problem is the US and EU are printing massive amounts of money, making “real” things go up. If they measure the price of gas in a “hard” currency (meaning one whose country isn’t as irresponsible as the US or the Europeans), the price is constant or falling.
gosh I feel sooooo bad for you people in the U$A, come here to Israel and see what we pay for gas, twice the price and no complaints.
#2- Israel is a tiny little country. America is gigantic compared to Israel. Many people’s daily commutes are so long that if you had a similar commute in Israel it would take you through several international borders. While public transportation is viable in areas with high population density, and that is where most Orthodox Jews lives, in most of the Jews the population density is much lower than in Israel (especially Israel excluding the Negev), meaning the private cars are the only meaningful method of transportation. That is why high gas prices in the US are catastrophic to the economy.