Old North News

Gas prices across the country continued to decline again in the last week, but Americans are still paying a premium at the pump. During June, gas prices jumped 11.2% North Carolina's gas price average remains high and so does the state's Gasoline Misery Index.

A decline in demand for both gas and crude oil has allowed gas prices to decrease slightly in the United States over the past week. North Carolina's average price per gallon on Friday has been reported at $4.23 – $1.32 higher than a year ago. The latest Gasoline Misery Index shows that on average, North Carolinians will spend $826 more annually on gasoline now than they did at this time last year.

"Gas prices rose 11.2% in June alone and are up nearly 60% from a year earlier. Grocery prices were up 1% in June (a bit slower than in May) and were up 12.2% from a year earlier," New York Times economics, business, and data reporter Ben Casselman said in a July 13 Twitter post.

The Gasoline Misery Index tracks how much more (or less) the average American consumer is paying for gasoline on an annualized basis. Compiled using gas price data from the American Automobile Association (AAA), average fuel efficiency (mpg) data from the U.S. Department of Energy and average miles driven from MetroMile.com, the index tracks the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline and adjusts using the average miles traveled by the average miles per gallon of American cars.

On July 13, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for the 12 months ending June 2022. The data showed a 9.1% all items annual increase, which represents a 1.3% climb from last month and a new four-decade high. The largest contributor was the increase in the gasoline index, which after dropping 6.1% in April and only climbing 4.1% in May, climbed a whopping 11.2% during June and 59.9% in the last 12 months

On July 14, AAA reported that according to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand dropped from 9.41 million b/d to 8.06 million b/d last week, while total domestic gas stocks increased by 5.8 million bbl. As long as these supply/demand dynamics hold, AAA predicts drivers will continue to see steady price relief at the pump.

According to the EIA, in January 2021 the national average price per gallon of gasoline was $2.33. When compared to Friday's national average price of $4.58, gas prices have almost doubled, a difference the Gasoline Misery Index refers to as the Biden Misery Index. Americans are spending an average of $1,182 more per year on gasoline today since the president entered office in January.

Driven by high inflation and energy prices, Biden's leadership has been criticized for months, with Americans continuing to disapprove of his job performance. The latest New York Times/Siena College poll revealed the president's approval rating is now at 33% among Americans. With more than three-quarters of registered voters seeing the United States moving in the wrong direction, The New York Times reports that the "pessimism spans every corner of the country, every age range and racial group, cities, suburbs and rural areas, as well as both political parties."