Gas prices have been front and center this year. United States retail gasoline has jumped in 2026, with the Retail Fuel Price Index showing regular gas at $3.86 per gallon in mid-July, while diesel in some states has pushed above $5 and climbed more than 2% in just a day.
That spike has fed straight into the wider economy: gas costs helped push U.S. inflation to a three-year high in May, with energy making up over 60% of that month’s price increase after Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz cut off about a fifth of global oil supply.
