Americans Determined to Keep Gas Cheap
by Tim Manni
According to a recent Gallup poll, despite oil prices that have fallen nearly $100 a barrel, the majority of Americans are continuing to drive less. Lack of demand has allowed cheap gas prices to put some money back in consumers’ pockets:
Even though prices at the pump are now about 45% lower than they were a year ago and significantly below $2 a gallon, 52% of Americans told Gallup that they have not gone back to their old gas-guzzling ways.
At the same time, overall demand for gasoline continued to decline, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse. Demand during the usually volatile Christmas week dropped 2.9% from the prior week while year-to-date consumption was off 3.2%. Winter storms throughout the country also hurt demand.
