May 28, 2008 2 min read

Gas prices jumped 12 cents per gallon during the Memorial Day holiday week. The current average of $3.946 is up from $3.830 last week. Gas prices jumped 12 cents per gallon during the Memorial Day holiday week. The current average of $3.946 is up from $3.830 last week.

According to the AAA Fuel Gauge, the nationwide average price of self-serve regular gasoline is $3.937 today. This is an increase of almost 14 cents per gallon since one week ago.

The size and speed of the recent run up in gasoline prices is similar to the meteoric rise in the price of crude oil. Oil reached $133 per barrel in electronic, overseas trading yesterday before dropping below $130 per barrel earlier today. If, as expected, the price of gasoline continues to edge even closer to the $4 per gallon mark, then we anticipate erosion in gasoline demand as the summer wears on.

The longer that prices hover near $4 per gallon, the more likely that households will continue to look for shorter trips away from home in both time and distance. These kinds of vacations are both affordable and offer the escape from day-to-day routines that most people need each year.

This weeks average prices: Western PA Average . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3.946

Average price during the week of May 20, 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3.830

Average price during the week of May 29, 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3.084

The following is a list of the average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:

$ 3.901 Altoona

$ 3.901 Beaver

$ 3.966 Bradford

$ 3.877 Brookville

$ 3.957 Butler

$ 3.959 Clarion

$ 3.955 Du Bois

$ 3.995 Erie

$ 3.914 Greensburg

$ 3.961 Indiana

$ 3.932 Jeanette

$ 3.956 Kittanning

$ 3.966 Latrobe

$ 3.997 Meadville

$ 3.959 Mercer

$ 3.967 New Castle

$ 3.899 New Kensington

$ 3.934 Pittsburgh

$ 4.019 Sharon

$ 3.956 Uniontown

$ 3.898 Warren

$ 3.939 Washington

AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 85 local offices in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, New York and Kentucky servicing 2.5 million members.

-AAA