North Carolina residents continue to feel the pain at the pump as Metro Business Daily's national Gasoline Misery Index showed that Americans are paying significantly more for gas this year than they did last year.
Americans are seeing record-high fuel prices in addition to the highest inflation rates the country has seen in 40 years, Metro Business Daily reported. The average price per gallon nationwide was $4.24 on March 25. Extrapolating from that, the Gasoline Misery Index estimated that Americans may be set to spend an extra $720 on gas this year compared with 2021. In North Carolina, the misery number sits at $869, and the state ranks ninth in the index's Top 10 States of Misery.
The Gasoline Misery Index compares the amount Americans will pay for gas on a yearly basis by looking at the price per gallon of regular gas, how many miles per gallon the average car gets and how many miles Americans are driving on average, Metro Business Daily reported. A week-by-week analysis predicts that this number is likely to continue climbing.
The data for this index is derived from AAA's gas price tracker, the U.S. Department of Energy's fuel-efficiency data and Metromile's measure of the average miles being driven, Metro Business Daily reported.
The national average price for gas was $2.33 per gallon in January 2021, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported.
In relation to the national average price of $4.24 on March 25, Americans are spending an average of $1,003 more on gas annually today compared to when President Joe Biden took office, Metro Business Daily reported.
The country saw a slight decrease in gas prices last week, as demand fell, AAA reported. The price of oil creeping upward, however, is mitigating that decrease. If oil prices remain on that course, prices at the pump will begin moving upward again.
The national average price of $4.24 per gallon on March 25 is a decrease from the record high of $4.33 on March 11. This drop can largely be attributed to a decrease in price of crude oil worldwide, which was at its apex following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, AAA reported. The price of crude oil has since dropped over $20, sitting at approximately $105 per barrel. While gas prices tend to rise around this time of year in America, expensive gas seems to be stifling demand, causing the current temporary price dip.
"People are doing what they told us they were going to do, and they're going to alter their driving habits," AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross told Fox Business.
Americans have started to use carpool services for their work commutes in an effort to curb the impact of high gas prices, Fox Business reported.