Two more states hit gas prices by $5 a gallon

New York
CNN
–

The Gas price hike getting worse

The national average jumped to $4.87 a gallon on Monday, according to AAA. An increase of 25 cents last week and 59 cents last month.

There are now 10 states where the average price of gasoline is $5 a gallon or higher, the most recent being Michigan and Indiana. Washington DC is also $5 higher.

New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts are just a few pennies away. Georgia is the only state with an average of less than $4.30 per gallon.

In total, more than one in five gas stations across the country now charge more than $5 per gallon, and just over half charge $4.75 or more.

Unfortunately, prices can Continue to climb.

Veteran oil analyst Andy Lebow told CNN he expects the national average to hit $5.05 a gallon in the next 10 days.

Oil, the largest component of gasoline prices, continues to rise – even after OPEC+ He announced plans late last week to intensify production.

Gas prices have been driven to record levels by a combination of factors, including strong energy demand as people drive and fly more.

On the other hand, the show failed to keep up. The US is pumping less oil than it was before Covid-19 started, and the market is indicating that the OPEC+ increase is too little, too late. US crude jumped to a three-month high of $120.99 a barrel on Monday morning before pulling back.

Manuel Santana, a Bronx resident who works at EMT, said just a few months ago that it cost him $40 to fill his drive-through locker to work. Now, it costs about $60.

“It’s frustrating,” Santana said while at a gas station in Manhattan where a gallon of regular gas is now $6. “Honestly, there’s not much you can do about it.”

Uber driver Abdullah Al-Waymeen said gas expenses have risen from $150 per week to $250 per week. It is feared that the matter will rise to a higher level.

Back in early March, the average national gas price for the first time broke the record of $4.11 a standard gallon that has been in place since 2008. That price now looks like the good old days. The national average price has risen steadily over the past month, setting 27 records in the last 28 days.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, told CNN in a phone interview that he feels more optimistic about the US economy’s ability to control inflation without causing deflation. But Zandi said the only catch would be another increase in oil prices.

If oil prices rise to $150, we will enter a recession. Zandi said.

CNN Business’s Chris Isidore contributed to this report.