By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com
May 28, 2008
Gasoline prices extended the streak of record increases notching a new a new high for 21 consecutive days, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report.
The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded climbed to $3.944, up 0.7 cents over night. Gasoline prices have increased almost 10 percent in May and nearly 25 percent over the last year. One year ago a gallon of regular self serve sold for $3.201 and one month ago a gallon sold for $3.603.
Average gasoline prices are now above the $4 mark in 11 states and the District of Columbia. Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia are all above $4 a gallon.
Three more states -- Florida, Maine and Ohio -- have average gasoline prices within 5 cents of the mark.
The most expensive gasoline in the country is found in Connecticut where a gallon of regular unleaded costs an average of $4.215, according to AAA. Alaska is second on the list with an average cost of $4.18 a gallon.
Drivers in Missouri get the best deal at the pump where a gallon costs $3.756 a gallon on average. In Wyoming gasoline sells for $3.762 a gallon.
Mid-grade gasoline sells for an average price of $4.188 and premium sells for $4.339.
Diesel sells for a record high price of $4.778. One year ago a gallon of diesel cost $2.911.
The U.S. Department of Transportation reported that the burdensome gasoline prices have kept U.S. consumers off the highways in record numbers.
The government figures are from March when a gallon of regular cost 37 cents less than now and they show the steepest decrease in driving ever recorded in the U.S.
Compared to March of 2007, consumer driving declined 4.3 percent or 11 billion miles, the sharpest yearly drop for any month in history, according to a news release from the Federal Highway Administration.
The agency has kept records since 1942.
