Average US gas price hits $5 for first time

New York
CNN Business
 — 

For the first time ever, a gallon of regular gas now costs $5 on average nationwide, according to AAA’s Saturday reading.

The record is hardly a surprise. Gas prices have been rising steadily for the last eight weeks, and this latest milestone marks the 15th straight day that the AAA reading has hit a record price, and the 32nd time in the last 33 days.

The national average stood at $4.07 when the current run of price increases began April 15. The current price reading from OPIS represents 23% increase in less than two months.

And the rising gasoline prices is doing more than just causing pain at the pump for drivers. They are a major factor in the prices paid by consumers for a full range of goods and services rising at the fastest pace in 40 years, according to the government’s inflation report Friday.

Inflation caused consumer confidence to hit a record low on Friday, according to a survey by the University of Michigan. Worries about what the Federal Reserve will do to battle inflation has sent US stocks plunging in recent months, wiping out billions in household wealth.

While a $5 national average is new, $5 gas has become unpleasantly common in much of the country.

Data from OPIS, which collects the readings from 130,000 US gas stations used to compile the AAA averages, showed that 32% of stations nationwide, nearly one of every three, were already were charging more than $5 a gallon in readings Friday. And about 10% of stations across the nation are charging more than $5.75 a gallon.

The statewide average was $5 a gallon or more in 21 states plus Washington DC in Saturday’s reading.

And gas prices are unlikely to stop there. With the summer travel season getting underway, demand for gasoline, coupled with Russian oil shipments cut off due to the war in Ukraine, oil prices are soaring on global markets.

The US national average for gasoline could be close to $6 later this summer, according to Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for the OPIS.

“Anything goes from June 20 to Labor Day,” Kloza said earlier this week about the demand for gas as people hit the road for long-anticipated getaways. “Come hell or high gas prices, people are going to take vacations.”

The highest statewide average has long been in California, where the average stood at $6.43 a gallon in Saturday’s readings. But the pain of higher prices is being felt across the country, not just in California or other high-priced states.

That’s partly because the cheapest price wasn’t all that cheap — the $4.47 a gallon average price in Georgia gives it the cheapest statewide average. Less than 300 gas stations out of 130,000 nationwide were charging $4.25 a gallon or less in…