The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States slipped 7 cents over the past two weeks, as high unemployment crimped demand, according to a survey released on Sunday. The average price for a gallon of self-serve, regular, unleaded gas was $2.52 on September 25, down 7 cents from $2.59 on September 11, according to the nation-wide Lundberg Survey.
The average price was about $1.14 lower than a year earlier, according to the survey, which evaluates prices at about 5,000 gas stations around the country. Trilby Lundberg said the latest decline in gas prices was in keeping with a similar decline in crude oil prices related to a supply glut. Oil producers and refiners have cut back their output, Lundberg said, but not enough to offset weak demand from unemployed motorists who are no longer commuting to work.
"The king of demand destruction is unemployment," Lundberg said, forecasting that US demand will continue to be weak as long as unemployment stays high. "Of the many supply/demand scenarios that might unfold, the most likely is continued glut and falling retail gas prices." Of all the cities Lundberg surveyed, Anchorage, Alaska had the highest average price, at $3.29 per gallon.
On the mainland, she said the highest prices were in San Francisco, with an average of $3.15 per gallon. Not far behind was Los Angeles, with an average price of $3.08 per gallon, she said. The lowest average prices nationally were seen in St. Louis, Missouri, which reported an average of $2.16 per gallon.
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