FL Gas Hits Another Record High With No End To Pain At Pump

FLORIDA — The average price of gas continues to reach new highs in Florida after demand grew during Memorial Day weekend travel and summer travel kicks into gear.

The average gas price in Florida on Friday is $4.73, the state's most recent record-setting price, AAA's website said.

Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has increased by 14 cents to $4.76, a gallon, AAA said.

Floridians are experiencing a 15-cent increase from a week ago, when the average price was $4.58; yesterday's price $4.71; a month ago $4.17; a year ago $2.85. Friday's average price for diesel in Florida is $5.54, AAA said.

Mark Jenkins, AAA spokesperson, said last month that gas prices would likely not drop for summer travelers.

To check gas prices in your neck of the woods in Florida, visit AAA Gas Prices.

Tom Kloza, a founder of Oil Price Information Service, told CNN Wednesday that anything goes with gas prices from June 20 to Labor Day.

According to Kloza, gas prices were already expected to cross the $4-a-gallon mark for the first time since 2008, without shots fired in Eastern Europe or economic sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine.

Job growth and less oil production in other countries also factor into the rise in gas prices, according to Kloza:

• Record job gains in 2021 "and the strongest economic growth since 1984, have combined the rebound in driving, as did pent-up demand for travel after the first year of the pandemic."
• Less oil and gasoline from other sources: "When pandemic-related stay-at-home orders around the world crushed demand for oil in the spring of 2020, oil plunged, briefly traded at negative prices. OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) and its allies, including Russia, agreed to slash production as a way to support prices."

For more insights, visit CNN Business MarketsNow.