Retail gasoline prices have risen by $1.40 per gallon on average nationwide over the past year, squeezing consumer budgets and limiting spending on non-energy items.
“If sustained, consumers will shell out nearly $160bn more for gasoline relative to last year,” a new report by Deutsche Bank says.
Pump prices continue to soar, reaching another all-time high on Thursday. The national average price for regular gasoline soared to $4.42 per gallon as of May 12, about 50 percent higher than last year.
According to Deutsche analysts, there’s a strong link between changes in retail gas prices and consumer spending on energy goods and services.
They concluded in a previous analysis that a one-cent increase in gas prices increases energy consumption and reduces income for non-energy-related products and services by $1.18 billion.
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