Why Gasoline Prices Are Rising Faster Than Usual This Year
Nic Malick felt so “road-trip rich" early this month that he and his wife drove their children 150 miles to Springfield, Mo., visiting friends and trying the brisket at Buc-ee’s, a convenience store chain with a cultlike following. Another getaway isn’t looking likely. “With gas prices the way they are, it doesn’t make sense," said Malick, who lives outside of Kansas City, Mo., and is now spending as much as $20 more on gas a week.
Prices at the pump typically rise in the first half of the year as more Americans get back on the road and refiners transition to less-polluting summer blends. But costs in 2024 have ramped up faster than normal, thanks largely to severe weather at home and geopolitical disruptions abroad. Unleaded gasoline ran $3.54 a gallon on average across the U.S.
on Wednesday, according to AAA, up 3% from a year ago and about 14% higher than at the start of 2024. Among the regions that have seen the fastest increases: the Salt Lake City area, where gas stations raised prices by about 65 cents to $3.77 a gallon over the past month. In metropolitan St.
Louis, drivers have seen a roughly 51-cent price hike to $3.45 during that period. In Chicagoland, costs are up by roughly 48 cents to $4.08. The uptick has helped make inflation stickier than expected in the first quarter and weighed on Americans’ outlook on a largely robust U.S.
economy. Gasoline and shelter contributed more than 60% of the consumer-price index’s increase in February from a year ago, according to the Labor Department, marking the first month since September that spending at the pump edged higher. The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge doesn’t include volatile food and energy costs.
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