The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Riverside County rose to its second-highest amount for a Christmas Day Monday, despite a recent run of 39 decreases in 40 days totaling 48.5 cents.
The average price increased for the third consecutive day following the run that dropped it to its lowest amount since Feb. 8, rising four-tenths of a cent to $4.537, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.
The Christmas record is $4.60 set in 2021.
The average price is 2.8 cents less than one week ago and 29.8 cents lower than one month ago, but 24.8 cents more than one year ago. It has dropped $1.836 since rising to a record $6.373 on Oct. 5, 2022.
The national average price was unchanged, remaining at $3.127 after dropping one-tenth of a cent each of the previous two days. It is 6.1 cents more than one week ago and 2.5 cents higher than one year ago, but 13.8 cents less than one month ago.
The national average price has decreased $1.889 since rising to a record $5.016 on June 14, 2022.