Despite recent hike, gas prices tracking below Labor Day 2015

Although gas prices in South Carolina and around the country risen in recent weeks, holiday travelers this weekend will still find cheaper prices than they did both a year ago and earlier this summer, according to AAA Carolinas.

The average price for a gallon of regular gas is $1.96 in South Carolina, the motor club reported Wednesday. That compares to $2.02 during Labor Day weekend in 2015 and $2.05 during the 2016 Memorial Day weekend, according to statistics from AAA Carolinas.

South Carolina has the nation’s lowest average gas prices, AAA reported Wednesday. North Carolina’s average gas price is $2.10.

“As we near the end of the summer, Carolinians are still enjoying some of the lowest gas prices in the nation and the lowest gas prices for Labor Day weekend in over a decade,” Dave Parsons, AAA Carolinas president and CEO, said in a statement.

The low gas prices are expected to help prompt more people to travel this weekend. AAA Carolinas expects more than 460,000 South Carolinians to travel at least 50 miles during the holiday. Most of them will travel by motor vehicle.

The lower gas prices will lead to moderate savings for motorists. By spending $1.96 a gallon for gas, a traveler whose car averages 25 miles a gallon will spend $11.60 on gas driving one way from the State House in Columbia to Ripley’s Believe It or Not Odditorium in Myrtle Beach. That’s a savings of 36 cents from last Labor Day and about 53 cents from Memorial Day 2016.

A trip in the same car from the State House to the Fort Sumter Visitor Education Center in Charleston will cost about $8.94 one way, a savings of about 27 cents from last year and about 41 cents from Memorial Day this year.

Average gas prices in South Carolina have risen about about 16 cents per gallon since mid August, according to figures from gasbuddy.com.

This story was originally published August 31, 2016 at 2:57 PM.