Pump pain
Gasoline prices have increased by at least 13 cents a gallon heading into this weekend from a week ago, a AAA survey shows.
On the Kansas side of the area, a gallon of unleaded was selling for an average price of $2.59, up from $2.46 a week ago, AAA said.
A year ago, a gallon sold for $1.74.
In Missouri, a gallon of unleaded was selling for an average price of $2.51, up from $2.38 a week ago.
A year ago, a gallon sold for $1.65 in Missouri.
The higher pump prices comes against a backdrop this week of rising crude oil prices.
On Friday, oil increased as much as 2.4 percent after the Commerce Department said gross domestic product gained by the most in six years. The growth rate was higher than the government reported last month. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said this week that the U.S. economy is in a “nascent” recovery.
“The positive GDP number is putting upward pressure on prices,” said Peter Beutel, president of trading adviser Cameron Hanover Inc. in New Canaan, Conn. “We are going to be focused on anything that gives an indication of where the economy is going.”
Crude oil for April delivery rose $1.40, or 1.8 percent, to $79.57 a barrel at the 2:30 p.m. close of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The April contract is down 0.6 percent this week. Prices are up 9.2 percent this month, the biggest gain since May.
