THE ISSUE: Gasoline prices

OUR OPINION: Rise in gas prices will slow economic recovery

Father’s Day may not be the measure of travel trends that are Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving or Christmas, but it is the first weekend of summer and people are on the move.

And they paying more for it.

The good news from early June was that motorists in South Carolina benefit from the cheapest gasoline in the nation. AAA Carolinas reported the average price per gallon of self-serve, regular unleaded in South Carolina as of June 2 was $2.33, 3 cents below Tennessee and 4 cents below Utah, Mississippi, New Jersey, Georgia and Alabama, the other states with the lowest prices. Hawaii has the most expensive gas in the nation averaging $2.83 per gallon.

Drivers across the nation saw the price per gallon rise during May an average of 45 cents as the summer driving season began. The increases have continued in June.

AAA attributes the rise in U.S. gasoline prices to an expectation of increased demand for gasoline this summer, speculation on oil futures and reduced domestic refinery output.

Regardless of the reason, the prices are increasing and taking more and more money from people’s pockets at a time when the trend is not needed.

Consider that the rise in gas prices helped put the country in recession as people had less money to spend on goods and services.

Consumers last summer were pulling $1.5 billion a day from their wallets to fuel their vehicles. By January, as oil prices collapsed, they were spending $600 million a day. But now they are back to daily spending of nearly $1 billion, according to a New York Times report with attribution to an official with the Oil Price Information Service.

Now, just as the recession is showing signs of bottoming out, come higher gas prices to reduce consumers’ ability to spend money on goods and services, which could help jump start the economy.

Recovery is going to be slower than expected, and again the people who can least afford to get hit hard will be hit. Lower gasoline prices have been one of the very things to cheer about during tough times. No one’s cheering now.

You must be logged in to comment.