text: The seasonal decline in gas prices is later than usual. So, while the national average retail price is down to $3.72, that's still a record for gas prices this time of year. 
   
   Labor Day: Where does it come from? 
   
   A gasoline pump shows a customer has spent $40.00 for just eight gallons of gasoline at a Shell station in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles in this October 2012 file photo. Relief has finally come in the form of gas prices' seasonal slide. 
   
   Motorists can relax a little, because the seasonal slide in gas prices has finally begun. 
   
   After 11 straight days of decline, the national average retail price of gasoline dipped to $3.72 Friday, down from a summer peak of $3.87. 
   
   But this year's decline has been delayed. Thus, Americans are still paying record-high prices for this time of year – and will continue to pay them for some time. 
   
   After jumping 9 percent in August, gas prices rose 7 percent in September, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The cost of gas has increased for three straight months. The reason? 
   
   The summer has been rife with refinery and pipeline complications. Supplies ran thin at the height of road trip season, raising prices and adding to the financial distress felt by many Americans. 
   
   For Californians, the summer went out with a bang. Drivers endured record hikes in early October as California eeked past Hawaii as the most expensive state for gasoline. 
   
   Prices there have since stabilized, but California lags behind the rest of the country in starting the seasonal slide. The average price of gas was $4.51 in California Friday, 79 cents higher than the national average, according to GasBuddy.com, a group of local websites that track gasoline prices. 
   
   "If you're along the West Coast, specifically California, you have my sympathy," wrote Patrick DeHaan of GasBuddy.com on Tuesday. "Prices just aren't coming down fast enough – but at least they're coming down and not going up." 
   
   Every fall, prices drop as oil producers switch to cheaper winter-blended gasoline and the closing of driving season drives down demand. 
   
   Despite the decline, gas is still 27 cents more expensive than it was one year ago. The daily average price had been the highest on record for that particular calendar day for eight straight weeks, according to a report Monday by AAA, a federation of motor clubs that is based in Heathrow, Fla. AAA predicts a further slide in gas prices, coupled with continued daily records through the end of the year. 
   
   Still, as Mr. DeHaan points out, there's good news ahead: 
   
   "[F]or the abundance of Americans who consume gasoline in their primary vehicles, the time has finally come: The drop in gasoline prices is coming." ||||| Early fall run-up in gasoline prices is fading fast. With inventories rising and demand slowing, wholesale gas prices are plunging. Consumers should see some major price cuts at the pump within weeks. 
   
   Teresa Jones watches the pump at a Shell station in Los Angeles in August. (Photo: Grant Hindsley, AP) Story Highlights Rising inventories, lower demand could push prices down 50 cents 
   
   Midwest, other regions could see pump prices in $3 range 
   
   Economy, Obama could get a lift from plunging gas prices 
   
   Autumn gasoline prices are about to drop faster than fall foliage. 
   
   As inventories rises and demand wanes, gasoline prices could plunge up to 50 cents a gallon from October's $3.86 peak average over the next few weeks, providing a lift for the economy and possibly becoming a factor in next month's presidential election. 
   
   Gasoline, now averaging $3.67 a gallon, is expected to fall to $3.35 or lower by late November. In some regions, prices have already sunk below $3. 
   
   "Most of the country is heading appreciably lower the next few weeks,'' says Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service, who notes wholesale prices in some key markets have dropped from as high as $4.35 a gallon to $2.71. Pump prices typically lag big wholesale drops. But Kloza expects retail prices to sink five to 15 cents a gallon over each of the next three weeks. 
   
   The drop could provide a boost to consumer spending and influence next month's presidential race, where gas prices have been a hot-button issue for much of the campaign. Several battleground states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, are enjoying big price drops. 
   
   "Certainly, lower gas prices are helpful in terms of consumer spending by increasing disposable income,'' says Brian Bethune, chief economist at Alpha Economic Foresights. "And if prices come down at a rapid rate in the next three weeks, that would tend to help the incumbent. It may not be logical, but if people see problems with the high cost of food or gas, it's the president who tends to get the blame." 
   
   Gas prices have remained stubbornly high well past their traditional Memorial Day weekend peak, due largely to supply shortages and refinery woes on the West Coast and Midwest. But as oil inventories rise and production issues ebb, prices have been easing the past week, a trend likely to accelerate. "This is very much gravity at work,'' Kloza says. "The faster prices soar, the more prone they are to panic sell-offs." 
   
   
   
   Kloza expects prices to bottom in the $3.30 range. Gasbuddy.com analyst Patrick DeHaan and energy analyst Brian Milne of Telvent DTN see a $3.35 bottom. Barring rising troubles in the Middle East or refinery issues in the U.S., prices could remain in that range through early 2013. 
   
   On Friday, gasbuddy.com was tracking some central Ohio stations selling gas for $2.97 a gallon. Gas prices remain stubbornly high in California -- the nation's priciest state averaging $4.51 a gallon -- although some stations are charging more than $5. Energy experts expect prices to bottom in the $4 range. "California is not completely out of the woods yet regarding supplies, and their refineries haven't been able to keep up,'' Milne says. 
   
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target: – Expect gas prices to start falling quickly over the next few weeks, reports USA Today. The national average is about $3.72 a gallon—a record high for this time of year—but it's expected to be about $3.35 by late November, thanks to lower demand and rising inventories typical in autumn. It also helps that producers switch to cheaper winter-blend gas right about now, notes the Christian Science Monitor. Nobody will happier than residents of California, although one analyst notes that the Obama campaign is sure to be pleased, too.