Average price of gas jumps 26 cents

CAMARILLO, Calif. — The average price of a regular gallon of gas jumped 13 cents in the past two weeks to $2.33, repeating the hike seen two weeks prior for a total 26 cents rise in the last month.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday the rise follows months of crashing prices and is still $1.08 per gallon less than a year ago. She attributed the rise to an increase in crude oil prices in mid-January and labor strikes at several refineries.

Los Angeles saw prices jump more than 35 cents making it the highest-price gas in the lower 48 cities surveyed, at $2.91.

The low average was in Salt Lake City at $1.91.

Honda to replace its president

TOKYO — Honda Motor, the Japanese automaker at the center of an airbag defect scandal, said today its president Takanobu Ito will step aside and be replaced by another Honda executive.

The unexpected decision follows massive recalls by Honda of vehicles equipped with air bags made by Japan’s Takata Corp. The airbags have inflators that can explode, expelling shards of metal and plastic. At least five deaths and dozens of injuries have been linked to the problem worldwide.

Takata airbags are used by many automakers but Honda was the worst affected.

Tokyo-based Honda said in a statement that another Honda executive, Takahiro Hachigo, will succeed Ito, who will remain on the board as an adviser.

U.S. home rental prices rise in Jan.

WASHINGTON — U.S. home rental prices rose at a steady rate in January, but prices barely budged or even dipped in parts of the Midwest and mid-Atlantic.

Real estate data firm Zillow said Friday prices increased a seasonally adjusted 3.3 percent in January compared with 12 months earlier. But some major cities are finding themselves with an excessive supply of apartments and houses, reducing price pressures for renters.

The homeownership rate slipped to 64 percent at the end of 2014, the lowest level in two decades, according to the Census Bureau.