US gasoline prices climb to new record

ANKARA

US gasoline prices climbed to a new record high level on Thursday, according to figures from the American Automobile Association (AAA).

The national average stood at $4.418 per gallon (3.785 liters) for regular gasoline, up 0.3% from $4.404 a gallon on Wednesday,

This marked a 4% jump from last week's average of $4.247 per gallon, and was a gain of 4.1% from $4.247 on a monthly basis, and up a whopping 47% from $3.008 a year ago, according to the data.

The highest price was seen in the state of California at $5.853 per gallon, followed by Hawaii and Nevada at $5.306 and $5.124 per gallon, respectively.

Record-high gasoline prices are increasing inflationary pressures on the American economy, where annual consumer prices in March climbed 8.5%, its largest gain in more than 40 years, but eased to 8.3% in April.

The Federal Reserve has so far raised interest rates twice, 25 basis points on March 16 and another 50 basis points on May 4, to tame inflation.

However, crude oil prices are on the rise with the Russia-Ukraine war creating supply worries, the EU preparing to ban Russian crude imports, and OPEC+ countries only gradually boosting production, falling short of meeting rising global demand.