It’s not too late for a road trip: The US average price of gas at the pump has finally dropped below $4.00 a gallon, bringing some relief to Americans who are hit by massive inflation on almost every corner.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, prices rose above $5.00 for the first time in mid-June, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
However, falling global oil prices over the past few weeks took that average down to $3.99 on Thursday — the first time below $4.00 since early March.
The White House cheered the encouraging news.
“This will give families across the country some much-needed breathing room,” said Cecilia Rouse, chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, noting that “we still have more work to do to bring inflation down.”
Prices vary widely across the United States, with drivers paying an average of $4.94 a gallon in Nevada and just $3.49 in Texas, according to the AAA.
“We’ve never seen anything like 2022 at the pump, highlighted by one-off events like the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which created myriad imbalances that were exacerbated by Russia’s war on Ukraine,” price-tracking site GasBuddy said in a Report Tuesday.
Despite the recent declines, AAA said fewer drivers refueled their vehicles last week.
“This is another sign that Americans are changing their driving habits for the time being to cope with higher gas pump prices,” the automaker said.
According to an AAA poll released in late July, nearly two-thirds of Americans said they’ve made changes in their driving habits or lifestyle since March, including driving less, combining errands, and reducing shopping or dining.
However, a gas tank is far from the only factor draining Americans’ wallets as food and housing costs continue to rise.
About 80 percent of metro areas across the country saw double-digit annual increases in the median price of a single-family home during the April-June period, according to a report released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.
The national average home price rose 14.2 percent from a year earlier, NAR said, despite rising mortgage rates and plummeting home sales.
Soaring US inflation has been fueled not only by aggressive consumer spending on pandemic savings and Russia’s war on Ukraine, but also by the snarl of global supply chains and domestic worker shortages.
Americans are beginning to see some relief: Official data released on Wednesday showed that consumer price inflation has slowed over the past month, retreating from a 40-year high that had been struggling to make ends meet for many families .
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