The average price of gas rose again overnight to $4.08, according to motor club AAA. That’s 92 cents more per gallon than at this time last year.
Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 24 cents to $87.31 per barrel early Friday. U.S. benchmark crude rose almost 1% to $81.83.
Businesses and households have had difficulty budgeting for gasoline and shipping because energy prices have become extremely volatile as fighting continues in the Middle East. Hopes for a U.S. deal with Iran have faded and the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the global oil supply usually transits each day, remains bottled up.
There was a level of relief after new reports this week showed consumer inflation, as well as rising costs in the pipeline before it reaches consumers, slowed in July.
If inflation appears to be in check, the Federal Reserve could hold off on raising interest rates. Higher rates would help keep a lid on inflation, but they do so by intentionally slowing the economy and making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money.
“The disinflation ducks are starting to line up, and with oil also backing off, the market has steadily stripped away the case for another near-term Fed hike,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
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