Several major surveys of gasoline prices show that the average price of a gallon of regular has reached an eight-month high. Depending on the source, that price is about $3.60. All signs indicated that the figure is rising.

Research firm Lundberg Survey reported the price rose 4.9 cents to $3.6055 for the two weeks that ended on April 4. AAA Fuel Gauge marked the price at $3.579 on April 6, up from $3.488 a month earlier. And GasBuddy pegged the price at $3.549.

California has taken the brunt of high prices. The average price of a gallon of regular in the nation’s largest state recently rose above $4. In some of the state’s largest cities, the situation is much worse. And prices are up sharply in some of the most populated states, threatening a spring and summer of costly driving.

The area around San Francisco is a hot spot for $4 gas. The price within the city itself is $4.07, according to GasBuddy. Not far away is Santa Barbara, the city with the highest price in the state at $4.13. The price in nearby San Jose is $3.98. Across the bay from San Francisco, in Oakland, the price is $3.97.

The area around Los Angeles has prices about as high as San Francisco. Within the city it is $4.08. In Riverside, the price is $4.02, and in Ventura it is $4.10.

The other large California city with an average price of regular in this range is San Diego, at just above $4.03 a gallon.

California’s largest cities could be the best place to test whether gas prices begin to badly hurt the economy. The areas around San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles are home to millions of people. Coupled with high gas prices, these areas also have expensive real estate and high costs of living. Perhaps the only mitigating factor is that some also have a many households with high median incomes.

The economic theory about rising gas prices is that the trend kills consumer spending. Prices are up nationally nearly 8% this year to above $3.55 a gallon. People only have so much money, obviously. Those who commute by car, fairly common among California’s cities, may struggle as an increasingly larger portion of their weekly incomes go toward fueling their vehicles. Eventually their finances become pinched, and their spending on almost everything else drops. Any ambivalence they may feel about rising fuel prices can only last for so long.

If California’s economy does begin to suffer from high gasoline prices, several other regions will not be far behind. In New York, Chicago, Miami and other large cities, the average price for a gallon of regular has passed above $3.75 and shows little evidence of moderating. The “California gas problem” has already started to spread aggressively. The price of an average gallon of regular is above $3.60 in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Michigan, New York, Illinois and California. Among them, these states have well over a third of the U.S. population.

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