Keystone Today

As the national gas average hovers just a cent below $5 a gallon, this week's Gasoline Misery Index has surpassed $1,000 and currently sits at $1,005. In Pennsylvania, the misery number is reported at $835 Friday (June 10). In light of May's inflation number announced at 8.6% Friday, NBC2 News reports gas prices were a major driving force in the increase from April.

Gasoline prices continued to rise this week, as the nation saw an average of a 23 cent increase in just the last seven days. Today's national average price per gallon has been reported at $4.99, 61 cents higher than a month ago. The latest Gasoline Misery Index shows that on average, Americans will spend $1,005 more annually on gasoline now than they did at this time last year. In Pennsylvania, the average of $5.06 per gallon is 20 cents higher than last week and the misery number sits at $835.

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.

"The pain of higher prices continues for U.S. consumers. Record gas prices drove inflation to 8.6% for the 12 months ending in May, higher than the pace in April," NBC2 News said on Twitter Friday.

On June 9, AAA reported that according to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 800,000 bbl to 218.2 million bbl last week. Meanwhile, gasoline demand grew from 8.98 million b/d to 9.2 million b/d as drivers continue to fuel up for the summer driving season – a time when gas demand typically increases. AAA said these supply-and-demand dynamics have contributed to rising pump prices. Coupled with volatile crude oil prices, pump prices will likely remain elevated as long as demand grows and supply remains tight.

According to the EIA, in January 2021, the national average price per gallon of gasoline was $2.33. It has more than doubled and has actually increased 114% when compared to Friday's national average price of $4.99, a number that the Gasoline Misery Index calls the Biden Misery Index. Americans are spending an average of $1,395 more per year on gasoline today since the president entered office in January.

Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for the 12 months ending May 2022. The data showed an 8.6% all items annual increase, the largest contributors being increases in the indexes for shelter, gasoline and food. The gasoline index climbed 4.1% in May and 48.7% in the last 12 months.

On March 31, in an effort to bring down pump prices, President Joe Biden announced the release of up to 180 million barrels of crude oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) over the next six months. The president said there would be a slight delay in declining gas prices by days and weeks, but that prices would drop by an unknown range. Although prices dropped minimally after the release two months ago, the affect was very short-lived.

Today's national average of $4.99 per gallon has climbed 18.2% since March 31, the day of the SPR release, when gas averaged $4.22 per gallon, 77 cents cheaper than today, according to AAA.