Drivers still feeling pain at pump

The price of gas is getting lower, but is it low enough to keep people traveling this summer?

This past May we saw some of the highest gas prices on record. But recently prices have fallen down to $2.93 in the Wilmington metro area.

Drivers are still feeling the pain at the pump as gasoline prices hover just above $3, on average, for a gallon of unleaded nationwide.

And even though prices have dropped three weeks in a row, gasoline still costs nearly six percent more compared to a year ago.

While increasing supplies of gasoline have helped to lower prices, increased consumer demand means prices will likely stay high throughout the summer.

But it appears Americans are adapting to the higher costs.

The most recent ABC News/Washington Post weekly consumer confidence poll found that Americans’ views of their personal finances and of the economy in general have stabilized.

This, after falling four straight weeks as gasoline prices were rising.

And in a sign that the Americans are still spending despite high gas prices, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday that retail sales shot up last month by 1.4 percent.

That’s double what economists expected and the largest increase in 16 months.

That’s good news for the nation’s economy as consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of the nation’s GDP.