(Bloomberg) -- US retail gasoline prices fell below $4.50 a gallon for the first time since mid-May, starting to ease pressure at the pump for millions of Americans. 

The nationwide average was at $4.495 a gallon, according to data released on Tuesday by the American Automobile Association. Prices have fallen more than 10% since hitting a record last month and are on a 35-day slide, the longest run of declines since April 2020.

A run up in gas prices this year has helped fan the fastest rate of inflation in decades, with US consumer prices growing at 9.1% on a year earlier in June. President Joe Biden, under pressure to bring down costs at the pump, has just completed a trip to Saudi Arabia in which he said he expects further oil supply increases.

On Monday, Biden tweeted that oil and gas companies should be passing on lower costs to consumers, with headline crude prices slumping from their June peak. 

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.