① The price of gasoline in the US has been falling for 60 days in a row, setting the record for the longest continuous decline in more than a year; ② This is certainly good news for the US government in its efforts to contain inflation; ③ According to data from the American Automobile Association, the current average price of gasoline in the US is 3.25 US dollars per gallon, which is more than 60 cents lower than the annual peak in mid-September and about 30 cents lower than the same period last year.
Financial News Agency, November 28 (Editor Bian Chun) US gasoline prices have been falling for 60 consecutive days, setting the record for the longest continuous decline in more than a year. This is certainly good news for the US government, which is trying to contain inflation.
According to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA), the current average price of gasoline in the US is $3.25 per gallon, which is more than 60 cents lower than the annual peak in mid-September and about 30 cents lower than the same period last year. Gasoline costs less than $3 per gallon in 14 states.
This may boost retailers' sales performance because it means that as the critical holiday shopping season begins, Americans can save some money on gas and use it to “buy buy buy.”
According to data released by the US e-commerce research agency Adobe on Saturday, on “Black Friday,” American shoppers spent a record 9.8 billion US dollars online, an increase of 7.5% over last year.
Furthermore, the continued decline in oil prices is also welcome for the Biden administration, as this means that US inflation is expected to continue to cool down. Biden is seeking re-election in 2024, and his economic performance, particularly in dealing with inflation, has always been criticized by voters plagued by inflation.
Although gasoline prices make up only a small portion of the CPI inflation basket, they do play an important role in influencing consumers' expectations for future inflation.
According to data from the US Department of Labor, the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) in October fell to 3.2% year on year from 3.7% last month, below market expectations of 3.3%; it remained flat month-on-month, the smallest increase since July 2022.
International oil prices have been under pressure recently
The trend in gasoline prices generally follows international oil prices. International oil prices have declined markedly in recent weeks due to differences within OPEC+ over production cuts. OPEC+ originally planned to hold a meeting this past weekend, but the meeting was postponed until November 30.
According to the latest news, the standoff between OPEC's “big brother” Saudi Arabia and member states continues. According to people familiar with the matter, in addition to requiring member states to accept the 2024 production quotas set previously, Saudi Arabia is also lobbying other member states to reduce production capacity quotas to boost oil prices, which have recently fallen rapidly, but this move has been resisted by some member countries.
At the same time, the aggressive interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve since March 2022 has put pressure on economic growth and consumer spending. Analysts point out that this is one reason why crude oil and gasoline prices have weakened.
In the Asian market on Tuesday, international oil prices rose slightly. Currently, WTI crude oil is hovering around 75.3 US dollars per barrel, and Brent crude oil is hovering around 80.3 US dollars per barrel.