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Labor Day Fuel Prices Jump 3.1 Cents, AAA Says

19 August 1997

Labor Day Fuel Prices Jump 3.1 Cents, AAA Says

    ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 19 -- Labor Day travelers will find the
price of gasoline up 3.1 cents since mid-July and up 1.1 cents from one year
ago, according to AAA.
    AAA's Fuel Gauge Report shows the average price of self-serve regular
unleaded gasoline is $1.264 per gallon, the highest price for August since
1990 and the start of the Persian Gulf War.
    The price of self-serve mid-grade gasoline averages $1.346 per gallon, up
3.1 cents from last month and 1.1 cents more than one year ago.  Self-serve
premium rose 3.6 cents from last month to $1.412, up .5 cent from last year.
Self-serve regular unleaded gasoline is most expensive in the West at $1.354
per gallon, up .2 cent from last month and 3.9 cents less than last August.
It is least expensive in the Southeast at $1.181, up 3.1 cents this month and
.8 cent more than one year ago.
    Other regional prices for self-serve regular unleaded are:  New England,
$1.301 per gallon, 5 cents more than last month and 1.1 cents higher than a
year ago; Mid-Atlantic, $1.241, up 3.5 cents since last month and 1.6 cents
less than last year; Great Lakes, $1.281, 8.4 cents more than a month ago and
8 cents higher than last year; Midwest, $1.246, up 2.7 cents from July and up
2.1 cents from a year ago; and Southwest, $1.225, 1.3 cents higher than last
month and down 1 cent from last year.
    The national average prices for self-serve regular unleaded gasoline the
past six months were:  July, $1.233 per gallon; June $1.25; May, $1.242;
April, $1.253; March, $1.271; and February, $1.287.
    The national average prices for self-serve unleaded regular prices for
August in the past five years were:  1996, $1.253 per gallon; 1995, $1.178;
1994, $1.198; 1993, $1.10; and 1992, $1.157.
    AAA's Fuel Gauge Report is based on data from Oil Price Information
Service -- the nation's most comprehensive source of petroleum pricing
information (800-929-4824, ext. 645).
    AAA is a not-for-profit federation of 99 clubs with more than
1,000 offices providing 40 million members in the U.S. and Canada with travel,
insurance, financial and auto-related services.
    AAA news releases can be downloaded from the following sites:
AOL -- Keyword: AAA; Click on "News and Events," "News Releases."
 INTERNET -- http://www.aaa.com/news/news.html

SOURCE  American Automobile Association