Great Lakes Wire

This week's Gas Misery Index reported that motorists in Michigan will spend $1,185 more on gas than they did a year ago. 

The state's average of $5.22 per gallon is 28 cents higher than last week, one of the highest weekly increases out of all 50 states.

Gasoline prices continued to rise this week, as the nation saw an average of a 23-cent increase in the last seven days. The national average price for a gallon of gas is $4.99 – 61 cents higher than it was last month.

The Gas Misery Index measures how much more (or less) the average American consumer will spend on gasoline on an annual basis. Officials track the average price of a gallon of regular gas, then modify the data using the average miles traveled by the average miles per gallon of American cars. The information is based on the price of gas from AAA, average fuel efficiency (mpg) data from the U.S. Department of Energy, and average miles driven from MetroMile.com.

"The pain of higher prices continues for U.S. consumers," NBC2 said on Twitter on Friday. "Record gas prices drove inflation to 8.6% for the 12 months ending in May, higher than the pace in April."

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) provided new data showing that total domestic gasoline stocks recently decreased by 800,000 barrels (bbl) of crude oil to 218.2 million bbl, according to a recent AAA news release. At the same time, gasoline demand grew from 8.98 million barrels per day (b/d) to 9.2 million b/d as drivers filled their tanks for the summer driving season. 

AAA officials said these supply and demand dynamics have contributed to rising pump prices. The prices will likely remain elevated due to volatile crude oil prices.

The EIA reported that when President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the average price for a gallon of gas stood at $2.33. Friday's national average price of $4.99 per gallon represents a 114% surge since then. Critics of the president dubbed this number the Biden Misery Index because motorists are spending $1,395 more on gas annually than when Biden became president.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics today released the Consumer Price Index (data for the 12 months ending in May). The data showed an 8.6% all-items annual increase; the largest contributors are increases in the indexes for gasoline, shelter, and food. The gasoline index climbed 4.1% in May and 48.7% in the last 12 months.

Drivers have seen little relief at the gas pump. This is despite the fact that Biden released 180 million barrels of crude oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in an effort to help lower gas prices. Biden made the announcement in March with the intent to curb rising gas prices within weeks. But, analysts are in agreement that prices will continue to climb for the foreseeable future.

Friday's national gas price average of $4.99 per gallon represents an 18.2% increase since March 31, the day of the SPR release. Gas was $4.22 per gallon on that day – 77 cents cheaper than the current price.