We set a new Labor Day record for gas prices, with the national average at $4.09 a gallon on Monday, according to GasBuddy – obliterating the previous mark of $3.83 a gallon from back in 2012.
Diesel is also at a high-water mark for this time of year, sitting at $5.87 a gallon on Monday.
And the outlook: it’s only going to go up from here.
“Six dollars per gallon (is) now a realistic possibility in the weeks ahead if Ukraine’s continued attacks on Russian refining infrastructure keep knocking capacity offline,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, speaking there on the price of diesel, which is the main culprit in our surging rate of inflation, since everything we buy has to get to the store somehow, and that somehow involves diesel.
The most recent data for inflation is from the month of July, when the year-over-rate rate was at 3.4 percent.
For reference: the inflation rate in 2024 that got the Democrats knocked out of the White House was 2.9 percent.
We have another one of those election things coming around, against a backdrop of what De Haan termed “sobering milestones” with gas and diesel.
The near-term, per De Haan, sees continued upward pressure on diesel, though gas prices should ease a bit, with the seasonal change in the grade of gasoline about to hit.
Share
Chris Graham
