Average Gas Prices Now Over $5 A Gallon
The average price that Americans pay for gasoline is closing in on $5 a gallon, another drain on the wallets of consumers who are paying more for many other essentials too. AAA said the nationwide average for regular on Thursday was $4.97 a gallon, up a quarter in just the last week and $1.90 more than drivers were paying a year ago • Full Story
Yeshiva World News
The average price that Americans pay for gasoline is closing in on $5 a gallon, another drain on the wallets of consumers who are paying more for many other essentials too.
AAA said the nationwide average for regular on Thursday was $4.97 a gallon, up a quarter in just the last week and $1.90 more than drivers were paying a year ago.
GasBuddy, a service that helps drivers find deals on gas, said the average surpassed $5 for the first time ever.
Pump prices have been rising steadily for months, shooting past the $4 mark in early March. They track the cost of crude oil, which was rising even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drove oil even higher.
Fears of short supplies are being compounded by demand, which usually picks up around Memorial Day at the end of May — the unofficial start of summer and vacation trips in the U.S.
California has the highest average price, at $6.40 a gallon, according to AAA. Several other Western states and Illinois are higher than $5.50.
The lowest average is in Georgia, at $4.41.
While the $5 mark on average is new, Americans paid more for gasoline back in July 2008, when inflation is considered. The high of $4.11 a gallon then would be equal to about $5.40 a gallon today.
“I think we’re in a particularly extreme situation right now,” said Harrison Fell, senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. “I don’t think many economists would argue sustained $5 gas prices would have minimal effects. I think most of us would agree sustained prices that high with no other policy intervention would be a drag on the economy. Whether or not it’s sufficient to tip us into a recession is a bit of an unknown factor.”
If we get to $5.50 or $6, that would be consistent with $150 for a barrel of oil. I think then, we’re done. We’re in for a recession,” said Mark Zandy of Moody’s Analytical. “It would be too much to bear. I think we could digest $120 if we don’t stay there too long.”
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