Gas Prices Expected To Keep Going Up

Last September, after Hurricane Katrina, Washington area gasoline prices rose to more than $3 a gallon. They soon came back down to earth, but in the past month they have again risen sharply.

A gallon of regular gasoline in the region cost $2.77 on average on Tuesday, according to AAA, up from $2.34 a month earlier. As much as that may hurt for those filling up a big SUV, prices remain well below the record $3.23 reached on Sept. 6, 2005.

Prices could get worse. Last week, the federal Energy Information Administration predicted a 25-cent-per-gallon rise in prices nationally this summer over last summer.

What might the recent rise in gasoline prices -- and potential increases this summer -- mean for the regional economy? The price hikes in September caused no obvious distress to the broader local economy, at least none that showed up in published, routine economic data.

Washington may be less affected by high fuel prices than the rest of the United States. The region lacks much heavy industry that must consume fuels to produce products. And because residents have higher-than-average incomes, high prices for fuels are not likely to cut into their consumption of other goods as severely as in places where people in general are more strapped for cash.

-- Neil Irwin