BZ: Gas prices up but still cheaper than a year ago
Gasoline prices shot up 7 cents last week, with a current national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded at $2.25, even though Floridians are paying more at $2.31 a gallon on average.
However, that uptick was not entirely unexpected, Heathrow-based AAA reports.
"Gasoline prices almost always rise in February," said Mark Jenkins, spokesman for AAA-The Auto Club Group. "The rate of increase slowed over the weekend, but motorists should expect more volatility at the pump for the next couple of months."
Since 2000, February gas prices rose every year except 2001. On average, February gas prices rose 22 cents during the past five years. Gas prices are up 25 cents in Florida since Feb. 1. In Orlando, gas prices currently average $2.30 a gallon, up 17 cents from a week ago.
Jenkins noted that while recent increases could create concerns for motorists, gas prices still are more than a dollar cheaper than this time last year and shouldn't reach the $3 mark in 2015.
