Gas prices have been rising and consumers are noticing. The pandemic’s negative impact on supply and demand hasn’t rebounded yet. In fact, recent news reports point to gas prices reaching a seven-year high – and it’s worsening before Fourth of July travel.
CivicScience tracking data show that concern about gas and energy pricing rose drastically from December 2020 through March of this year and has remained fairly elevated.
Initially, these concerns were a partisan issue, but between February and March of this year, before the vaccine became more widely distributed, most U.S. adult consumers reported being at least “somewhat concerned.”
Since then, concern has declined slightly but still remains high across the political spectrum.
While a significant chunk of consumers are concerned about prices, more than half say that the rise in prices hasn’t made them cut their overall spending. But, another half say they have altered their spending habits at least a little.
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