During Memorial Day weekend, the start of the summer travel season, the Energy Department said gasoline prices are at a 20-year low. That’s not the case in raw dollars, but it’s closer to accurate if you calculate the share of income it takes to buy 10 gallons.
Without adjusting for inflation, prices per gallon today aren’t anywhere near the lowest in two decades. As a percentage of disposable income, 10 gallons of gasoline are at their second-lowest cost since 2002 — 23 years ago.
Going back to 2002, the only year lower than this year was the pandemic year of 2020, when travel and commuting were at historically low levels.In the middle of Memorial Day weekend — the traditional start of the summer travel season — the U.S. Energy Department posted a celebratory message online.Late May gasoline retail prices are nowhere near the lowest per gallon in the previous 20 years. But by adjusting for inflation and income, the administration’s statement is more credible.in the conservative outlet Breitbart, headlined,"Promises Made, Promises Kept: Memorial Day Set For Lowest Gas Prices in Over 20 Years." The article said:"Americans celebrating Memorial Day by hitting the road will likely be paying the cheapest gas prices since 2003. GasBuddy, a fuel savings platform, said Tuesday that it forecasts the national average price of gasoline to be $3.08 per gallon on Memorial Day. That would make it the cheapest since 2021 in nominal terms. After adjusting for inflation, it would be the lowest since 2003." The Energy Department’s post glossed over one of the nuances included in the Breitbart article, that the figure cited in the story was adjusted for inflation.Energy Information Administration shows the national average gasoline price per gallon at $3.17 during the week beginning May 19. The prices at similar dates in late May were lower than now in 11 other years going back to 2005: 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. In the other nine years going back to 2005, the price per gallon was higher than it is now.at PolitiFact, we refrained from applying a standard inflation adjustment to gasoline prices, because gasoline prices are themselves a notable component of overall inflation, which skews the adjustment. Instead, we’ve calculated what percentage of Americans’During the first quarter of 2025, buying 10 gallons of gasoline took 2.53% of weekly disposable income. That’s the smallest percentage required since 2002 — when it was 2.49% — with one exception, 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic left the economy at a near-standstill, with little travel and commuting. That’s a 23-year low, not counting 2020. Going back even further to 1992, we find only four years when the percentage was lower than it was in late May: 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2020.The Energy Department posted,"U.S. retail gasoline prices heading into Memorial Day weekend: 20 year low!" In nominal terms, prices per gallon today aren’t anywhere near the lowest in two decades. But as a percentage of disposable income, the price of 10 gallons of gasoline is at its second lowest level since 2002 — 23 years ago. The only year lower was the pandemic year of 2020, when travel and commuting were at historically low levels. Email interview with Mark Finley, nonresident fellow in energy and global oil at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, May 27, 2025Declining cargo traffic at U.S. ports “means we lose less money. … When you say it's slowed down, that's a good thing.”“It's estimated” that President Donald Trump’s tariffs will mean “American families would have to pay about $4,000 more a year.” Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia “had ‘MS-13’ on his knuckles tattooed. … He had ‘MS’ as clear as you can be. Not 'interpreted.’”The Sean “Diddy” Combs trial testimony revealed that former President Barack Obama was “caught in secret meetings with Diddy’s drug runner.” La presidenta de México Claudia Sheinbaum dijo que el choque del buque Cuauhtémoc contra el puente de Brooklyn en Nueva York no fue un accidente y puede ser un acto hostil.
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