Courtesy of Doug Short
Here’s a chart based on the weekly gasoline price update from the Department of Energy with an overlay of Light Crude. West Texas Light Crude, at 108.68, and gasoline prices at the pump are up nearly nine cents from last week. This is the highest price for both oil and gasoline since September 2008. Year-to-date, regular has risen 63 cents.
As I write this, GasBuddy.com shows a Hawaii average of $4.29 for regular, (the nation’s high), with California in $4.05 range, the highest in the continental US.
The price increases in crude oil and gasoline were reflected in the latest Consumer Price Index data for February and more recently in Personal Consumption Expenditures. For additional perspective on how energy prices are factored into the Consumer Price Index, see What Inflation Means to You: Inside the Consumer Price Index.
The chart below offers a comparison of the broader aggregate category of energy inflation since 2000, based on categories within Consumer Price Index (commentary here).
