Gas customers react to soaring prices in Arlington, Va.

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Gas customers react to soaring prices in Arlington, Virginia

Gas customers complained about soaring prices in Arlington, Virginia during interviews with Fox News on Thursday.

Gas customers complained about soaring prices in Arlington, Va., during interviews with Fox News on Thursday.

"It’s killing me. It takes 60 bucks to fill up the 2020 Camaro and it takes $52 to fill up my 2016 Chevy Malibu," Tony, a Shell customer, told Fox News. "It’s crazy." 

Consumer prices rose 5.4% last month compared to a year earlier, matching the prior month's gain as the fastest since 2008, according to a Department of Labor report released Wednesday. Gas prices saw a 2.4% increase from June to July.  

"It kind of sucks," one customer told Fox News. "It makes traveling a lot harder, and that’s something that people have been waiting to do since spring of 2020."

"It puts a damper on stuff," she added.

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The average gas price in Virginia on Thursday was $2.98 a gallon, about a dollar more compared to a year ago, according to AAA.

But gas at many Arlington gas stations was more than $3 per gallon.

"My reaction to the high prices is that — of course, like everybody else, I don't like it," Ivan, who was filling up his tank at Shell, told Fox News. "I’m of an age to remember when gas was in the dollars, so inflation is really affecting us."

One Liberty Gas customer said: "It’s just been really steep, and it’s making it harder to afford."

"I have to keep it in mind in budgeting in a way I used to not," she added.

Tony said he’s also had to change his habits. He told Fox News he's driving his cars less.

Two gas station employees told Fox News that they've faced customer complaints about the prices.

"They’re mad at me because the price is very high," ExxonMobil employee Dipak Ikiedsiki told Fox News. "Sales are also less now."

He said he believes part of the reason is that people are moving to electric cars.

Regular gas at Ikiedskiki’s ExxonMobil location was $3.37 per gallon. He said that’s very high. 

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"Customers complain to me about the price," another employee, Yam Itoula, who works at Liberty Gas, told Fox News. 

Gas prices have been increasing for the past several weeks. Thursday's national average of $3.19 per gallon marked the most expensive gas price average of the year, according to AAA.

A Shell customer told Fox News: "It’s too expensive now. Everything is raised, but salary is not raised."

AAA noted Thursday that it expects the national average to remain above $3 per gallon throughout the summer.