Gas prices soar again in Northeast Ohio

The average price for a gallon of self-serve, regular unleaded gasoline is currently $2.859 at the pump. This is a 14.6 cent increase from last week.

According to AAA’s Fuel Gauge, crude prices hovered during modest trading on Columbus Day, finishing at $82.21 at settlement time on the NYMEX, down 45 cents from the opening price.

Last week, oil prices averaged $82.37, a five percent increase from the last week in September. Crude’s momentum was only briefly interrupted on Friday with the release of worse-than- expected data from the US Department of Labor that the unemployment rate remained above 9.5 percent for the 14th consecutive month.

This led to a brief drop in crude prices, but the market rebounded before the end of trading on Friday to finish above $80 per barrel for the sixth consecutive day.