Gasoline prices surge

By Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — If gasoline seems a little more expensive these days, it is. Expect it to move even higher this week.

The federal Energy Information Administration said the national average price for a gallon of regular increased to $2.819 a gallon from $2.732 over the past week. A month ago, regular averaged $2.721.

In Florida, the increase is a bit more dramatic, with regular averaging $2.776 a gallon, up from $2.676 a week ago, according to the federal agency. A month regular averaged $2.634 a gallon.

Palm Beach County as usual has the highest gasoline prices in the state, with an average of $2.885 a gallon Tuesday, up from $2.813 a gallon a week ago, according to AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report.

Nationally, diesel averaged $3.066 a gallon according to the EIA, up from $3 a gallon a week earlier. Diesel averaged $3.12 a gallon in Palm Beach County, up from $3.057 a week earlier.

Speculation that the Federal Reserve will buy more U.S. debt in an effort to boost the economy and keep interest rates low pushed the price of crude higher, according to AAA's weekly fuel briefing. The news came after reports from the Labor Department showed more jobs were cut and U.S. jobless claims rose more than expected in September.

"We're in a bull market right now and it's likely we will see the price of crude trade between $75 and $85 for the remainder of the month," said Jessica Brady, manager, AAA public relations. "Retail gas prices will move higher this week in response to crude's price increase."