The pain of $4-a-gallon gas is spreading
This tipping point is already hitting the country's most populated areas. As gas prices surge, some consumers may cut spending in other areas.
A tipping point has hit some of the country's most populated areas: the $4 gallon of gas, which is digging into the pocketbooks of consumers in New York, California and Washington, D.C., according to the Automobile Association of America.
While painful for consumers, high gas prices may also spell trouble for the still-recovering economy. At $4 per gallon and higher, almost one-third of consumers say they're forced to make "significant cutbacks" in spending, according to a 2012 Gallup poll.
February's price jump has been unusual, given that drivers typically take to the roads less in winter, leading to lower demand for gas. But refinery shutdowns have resulted in tighter supply, which is driving up prices.
Unfortunately for consumers, it's likely that more parts of the country will soon feel the $4 pain, despite a break in the rising streak.
That's because fuel prices typically rise in March and April, as weather improves and drivers take to the road again. Peak prices this spring might approach the highs seen in 2011 and 2012, AAA noted in a Feb. 19 blog post.
The worst-hit cities are in California, with Santa Barbara residents paying the highest prices in the country: $4.36 for a gallon, according to GasBuddy.com. Other hard-hit towns include Honolulu, where a gallon costs $4.27, and New York City, where drivers pay $4.06.
The higher costs are taking their toll on consumers, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), which represents the convenience and fuel retailing industry.
Almost one-quarter of consumers who buy gas are "very pessimistic" about the economy, up from 18% in January, when fuel prices started climbing, according to the NACS Consumer Fuels Survey.
"[C]onsumers are feeling the pain from higher gas prices and this is affecting their feelings about the economy in general," said John Eichberger, NACS vice president of government relations, in a statement. "Worse, consumers see no end in sight, with 62% saying that they expect prices to be even higher in the coming weeks."
This is a ploy by the mainstream media constantly stating the price of gas. Mainstream media is in the pocket of the White House and Democrates. The lawmakers all have gas cards and we the tax payer, pay for their gas just as we pay for all the traveling flights of the first family. This is all a scam.
I wish we had a President who would govern instead of campaigning constantly against the GOP. He is obsessed with this since he was voted in again.
Money is the only way to motivate the human race. I vote 10 dollars a gallon to push people to stop buying giant Chevy Suburbans and Expeditions. Only Americans buy these giant vehicles and think they are entitled to drive them. Americans are big fat pigs. I spent time in other countries with no car and had no problem getting around. Get a bicycle and stop eating pizza! Put the cell phone down and pedal!
Four dollar gas is nothing.We Americans are paying four hundred dollars per gallon of fuel delivered to our troops in Afghanistan. And we have been for ten years now. Feel better about four dollar gas now? I won't even mention how much the road and bridge construction is costing. But it is food for thought next time you travel over one of our deteriorating bridges. Being a super power ain't cheap.
ONCE AGAIN ITS INGNORED AND PEOPLE ARE HURTING THAT HAVE TO DRIVE FOR A LIVING. YET WE HAVE THE FIRST LADY ANOUNCING THE BEST PICTURE, THE PRESIDENT GOING OFF TO GOLF WITH TIGER WOODS.....AND THE OTHER SIDE WHO ARE JUST AS BAD....DOING NOTHING EXCEPT STUCK IN THE MIDDLE. i REALLY AM ASHAMED OF OUR LEADERSHIP TODAY ON BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE...MOST DISTRESSING IS THE REPORT OF 11 STATES THAT HAVE MORE PEOPLE ON WELFARE THAN WORKING.AND THEY MAKE MORE THAN THE AVERAGE WORKER WITH THE GOVERNMENT HAND OUT. DOES ANYONE GIVE A DAMM ABOUT THE WORKING FOLKS ANYMORE? WE ARE BEYOND PLAYED OUT!
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