Gasoline Prices Are Still Dropping

ThinkstockGasoline prices have moved back almost to where they were a year ago. That means the drag of fuel prices on the economy becomes increasingly less likely. Only a few months ago, the nationwide price for a gallon of regular…

Published December 6, 2012, 7:15am ET · 1 min read

gas sign

Gasoline prices have moved back almost to where they were a year ago. That means the drag of fuel prices on the economy becomes increasingly less likely.

Only a few months ago, the nationwide price for a gallon of regular on average approached $4. The AAA Fuel Gauge puts that price at $3.379 now, down from $3.409 a week ago and $3.463 a month ago.

Even more important is the drop in the price of gas in the most populated states. With the exception of Hawaii, which has to ship in gas from hundreds of miles away, not a single state has regular gas prices that on average are above $4. In California, where prices were above $4 for some time, it has fallen to $3.678. And in New York the price has dropped to $3.846.

In some places, the price has moved close to $3, perhaps because they are near to or house refineries. Gas prices are down to $3.148 in South Carolina, $3.139 in Texas and $3.158 in Oklahoma. Oil has fallen below $88 a barrel, and the trend continues downward, which means the drop in gas prices is not over.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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Trey Thoelcke

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.
Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community.
Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.
Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions.

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