Gas prices are higher on Election Day eve

Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Retail gasoline prices in the United States continue to march slowly up to the $4 per gallon mark, an increase that could create headaches for Democrats on the eve of Election Day.

Travel club AAA listed a national average retail price of $3.80 for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline for Monday, a 4-cent-per-gallon increase from this time last week.

Retail gasoline prices have been on a steady increase in the days leading up to midterm elections on Tuesday. Those prices account for the bulk of the increase in consumer-level inflation, which is lower than summer peaks but still high at 8.2% over the 12-month period ending in September.

For just gasoline, inflation is running at 18.2% over the period. As one of the more ubiquitous signs of inflation, that's a concern for U.S. President Joe Biden and fellow Democrats given that the state of the economy is a major concern for U.S. voters.

A survey of 1,000 registered voters conducted from Oct. 14 -Oct. 18 for NBC News found 48% of the respondents said they'd be voting with abortion rights and threats to U.S. democracy on their mind, while 46% said they were concerned about the cost of living.

Biden is not on the ballot, though he's been busy stumping for his fellow Democrats. At a campaign event in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, Biden during the weekend said that if energy companies invested more of their record-breaking profits into production, then gasoline prices might not be so much of a burden.

Despite his efforts to curb prices, however, the commodities market is a global one that moves on issues out of the president's control. Speaking Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted that Biden is indeed doing all he can.

"This is a global challenge that we're seeing," she said of inflationary pressures in general. "It's not just happening here. This is happening globally."

Inflation in the British economy was at 10.1% for the the12-month period ending in September, far higher than that of the United States. Across the border in Canada, meanwhile, gasoline prices translate to $5.00 per gallon, just below the all-time U.S. high of $5.02 per gallon from June.

Patrick DeHaan, the senior petroleum analyst at price-watcher GasBuddy, said prices could be leveling off, however.

"Just over half of the nation's 50 states saw gasoline prices rise last week, pulling the national average back up for the time being due to big jumps in the Great Lakes and continued increases in New England and mid-Atlantic states," he said. "For now, the rise in the Great Lakes, brought on by tight supply, has already started to ease, and declines should start again."

Most of the states in the Great Lakes region, including battleground Michigan and Pennsylvania, are showing state averages of at least $4 per gallon. Nationally, however, the Energy Department forecasts a national average of $3.80 per gallon for the fourth quarter and $3.57 per gallon for2023.