Gas prices creep up in Seattle area
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Gas prices in the Seattle metro area were far above the national average last month, with local drivers spending an average of $4.26 per gallon as of early February, per GasBuddy data.
What's happening: Those prices are up 2% year over year, and up 3% from January — but they're a big drop from the peaks seen last June and October, when gas topped $5 a gallon in and around Seattle.
Zoom out: Nationally, gas cost about $3.40/gallon in February — down 6% year over year, but up 2% from January.
Why it matters: More than three-quarters of American commuters drive to and from work, meaning they're particularly sensitive to the ebbs and flows of prices at the pump — especially as other basic goods also become more expensive.
- Gas prices are also a political football, rightfully so or not.
- When they're high, many Americans tend to blame whoever's sitting in the Oval Office — even though, as Axios' Andrew Freedman has reported, they lack significant control over the cost of commodities priced on global markets, oil included.
Driving the news: Oil prices spiked last year amid uncertainty over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the economic sanctions against Russia — a major oil producer — that followed.
- While the fighting drags on, oil markets have largely stabilized, as CNN reports.
Zoom in: The Seattle area's gas prices last month trailed those in the San Francisco metro, where gas costs an average of 4.76 per gallon in early February.
- Houston-area drivers enjoyed some of the cheapest prices nationwide, at just $2.93/gallon at the start of last month.