Gas Prices Increase with Fewer Travelers on the Road

Despite a drop in demand, national average for a gallon of gas increase by five cents since last week to $3.32.

With fears of an economic recession and less people traveling, AAA Travel found the national average of $3.32 is 17 cents more than December and only a penny more than a year ago, with flat gasoline demand and increased supply contributing to limited pump price increases.

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“Gasoline demand is usually lackluster this time of year, and it likely won’t start to tick up until spring break draws near,” AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said. “So, the primary factor in this latest increase is the higher cost of oil, which accounts for more than half of what you pay at the pump.”

Several states saw weekly increases of 10 cents or more, including Colorado (up 32 cents), Georgia (30 cents), Indiana (17 cents), Nebraska (13 cents), Wyoming (12 cents), Illinois (10 cents) and New Mexico (10 cents).

As for the nation’s top 10 most expensive markets, Hawaii tops the list at $4.98 per gallon, followed by California ($4.42), Washington ($4.00), Nevada ($3.94), Alaska ($3.71), Oregon ($3.68), Pennsylvania ($3.64), Washington, D.C. ($3.53), Illinois ($3.52) and New York ($3.44).

Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index showed that airfares are up 28.5 percent year-over-year, but were down in December by 8.2 percent compared to the previous month. When adjusted for seasonality, the decline was 3.1 percent, which followed declines of three percent in November and 1.1 percent in October.

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