virus fears were spreading across the globe and a major ebola outbreak reach the united states. seven years ago, the last time we saw oil and gas prices like what you will find at your loca pump right now according to aaa the average cost of a gallon of gasoline $3.28 a gallon up from a week ago and that is up from $1.77 for a national average in april of 2020. all of this as critics are warning the proposal from the democrats democrats tax-and-spend lien could push the sky high gas prices even further. foxbusiness anchor joins us now. this is a very very real proble because you combine that with the labor shortage, the trucker shortage, the inability to get people to get those containers off the ships, and then when sh got people in the trucks, if you re lucky enough to be able to supply those workers, it s going to cost you that much mor
take them further into the united states and back out here live you will notice everything you just saw on the video we played was all local and state law enforcement having to do part of the federal government s job out here. you have the tiny police department here having to find and apprehend migrants and texas dps having to patrol highway for the human smugglers bringing illegals further into the country. not border patrol s fault. they can t be everywhere at once. so many of their agents are pulled off the front lines because they have to do the paperwork because there are so many family units coming across in the rio grande valley sector. bill: nine months later and still no change in that flow. thank you. dana: sticker shock at the pump as the price of gas keeps getting higher. the average cost for a gallon is $3.28, a seven-year high and up more than a dollar from last year. the former chairman of the counsel of economic advisors. want to read from the op-ed.
in philadelphia. hello, jeff. trace, to paraphrase the old brooks and dunn song, costs are going up at the pump particularly. $3.49 at the sunoco in philadelphia. 3.27, 3.28 right now if you round up in terms of the price of regular on the average in the u.s. up eight cents in just the last weeks. up 11 cents since this time last month. $1.10, $2.18 this time last year. the folks we talk to, whether it s in the well-healed neighborhoods or the inner city, other starting to get pretty upset about it. listen. $120? $120. that s a lot of money. i m not talking about ebt or food stamps. $120 to fill up this truck. nowhere near it was. nowhere near.
they have nearly doubled in the last 17 months. that s right, erica. gas was $1.77 a gallon back during the pandemic, compare that to the station in alexandria, virginia, it is lower than the national average, which is $3.28 now, up 8 cents in just the last week. and analysts say it is the price of crude that is driving this. it hit $80 a barrel for the first time in seven years and they re anticipating that it will go to $85 a barrel, maybe $90 a barrel by the end of this year. the point is this is just the beginning, and drivers are only now starting to take notice of all of this. incrementally it is small, those of us on a fixed budget hurt more than those who do not. but it is it is tolerable for the moment. that s a lot. you got to constantly put gas in here, at least $20.
high, $3.28 a gallon. also, oil prices near a seven-year high as well. you have covid clearly remains the biggest threat to the economy, but how big of a threat are the soaring energy prices now on top of that and the ripple effects it can have? yeah. no, obviously it s a problem, and it all goes back to the pandemic. i mean, the pandemic has disrupted all markets, you know. you can see in the global supply chains hand in the job market and now we re seeing it in the energy markets, $80 oil. gasoline is $3.25 and rising. natural gas prices run, and actually, kate, these these effects are even more serious overseas, so, you know, it s the damage created by the pandemic and working through the pandemic. i m hopeful that, you know, as the pandemic winds down and i think it looks like that s the case, that we ll work through these issues, the supply side of these markets will kick into gear, meet the demand and prices will begin to moderate. you know, it s not going to be