October’s U.S. gasoline price was still far above a year earlier, even after a small monthly dip. On Nov. 10, the New York Times reported that AAA’s October average for regular gasoline was $4.32 a gallon, still 40% above a year earlier. Diesel climbed modestly in October and was up 72% from a year before.
A gasoline average is not a diesel price, and an October average is not the price on a Nov. 10 receipt. The figures are also separate from Tuesday’s unreleased Consumer Price Index and from crude futures, which are not posted at the pump. A decline in one fuel does not tell you whether the whole household basket fell.
The monthly easing can matter to drivers who filled up in October, but the year-ago gap shows the larger hit to a household fuel budget. Trucking firms and farms that buy diesel face the steeper 72% comparison, not the gasoline average.
Did October’s slight gasoline dip return U.S. pump prices to last year’s level? No. AAA’s October regular-gasoline average was $4.32, still 40% above a year earlier, while diesel was up 72%. This report did not publish a November pump price.