The national average jumped to $ 4.87 a gallon on Monday, according to AAA. That’s up from 25 cents last week and 59 cents last month.
There are now 10 states where the average price of gasoline is $ 5 a gallon or more, and the last ones are Michigan and Indiana. Washington, DC, is also above $ 5.
New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are just a few cents away. Georgia is the only state with an average of less than $ 4.30 a gallon.
In all, more than one in five gas stations across the country now charge more than $ 5 a gallon for regulars, and just over half charge $ 4.75 or more.
Unfortunately, prices could continue to rise.
Veteran oil analyst Andy Lipow told CNN he expects the national average to reach $ 5.05 a gallon in the next 10 days.
Oil, the most important component of gasoline prices, continues to rise in price, even after OPEC + announced plans late last week to increase production.
Gas prices have been driven to record highs by a number of factors, including strong demand for energy as people drive and fly more.
The offer, however, could not be kept up to date. The United States is pumping less oil than before Covid-19 began, and the market indicates that the increase in OPEC + is too little, too late. U.S. crude jumped to a new three-month high of $ 120.99 a barrel Monday morning before falling.
Manuel Santana, a Bronx resident who works as an EMT, said just a few months ago that it cost him $ 40 to fill his tank to go to work. Now, it costs about $ 60.
“It’s frustrating,” Santana said while at a Manhattan gas station where a normal gallon of gasoline now reaches $ 6. “Honestly, you can’t do much about it.”
Uber driver Abdallah Alweimine said his gasoline costs have gone from $ 150 a week to $ 250 a week. And he worries that they will reach even higher.
In early March, the national average gas price first broke the record $ 4.11 per gallon of usual that had been held since 2008. That price now seems like the good old days. The national average price has been steadily rising over the past month, setting 27 records in the last 28 days.
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, told CNN in a telephone interview that he feels more optimistic about the ability of the U.S. economy to control inflation without causing a recession. But Zandi said the only catch would be a further rise in oil prices.
“If oil prices reach $ 150, we will go into recession. There is no way out,” Zandi said.
– Chris Isidore of CNN Business contributed to this report.