UNUSUAL: National tab most ever for the holiday season at $3.
The Anchorage average was $3.39 a gallon Monday, compared with $3.36 a month ago and $3.28 a year ago, AAA reported.
Nationally, pump prices topped $3 for the first time ever at Christmas, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. The average pump price was $3.01 at the end of last week. That's 14 cents more than a month ago and 43 cents higher than a year ago.
The national average continued to go up and was $3.04 per gallon as of Monday.
Pump prices traditionally have dropped after the peak summer driving season and into the winter, because fewer people are on the road. This year, however, gasoline prices rose as oil prices climbed from about $80 a barrel in August to more than $90 at the end of last week. That's the highest it's been in more than two years.
Analysts think oil and gas prices will rise as the economy gets stronger and demand picks up. But some economists worry that high energy prices could slow the nation's economic recovery. A study by business management firm PortiaGroup said gas pump prices are already taking a bigger bite out of household spending: an average 7.4 percent of median household income this month compared with 6.5 percent in December of last year and 4.2 percent in 2008.
If higher oil prices persist, the average share of income spent on gasoline could rise to almost 10 percent by spring, with pump prices around $3.75 or more a gallon.
Most analysts say oil prices have been rising not because of strong demand and dwindling supplies, but on the belief that an improving economy usually means more demand for oil and gas.
Poster Comment:
Sarah needs to drop everything and take back the governorship to refudiate this. Her subjects are suffering. No wonder her kid is moving to Arizona.