Poll: Gas prices hurt, but people adjust

Princeton, N.J. -- A national poll of 1,025 adults suggests U.S. residents expect the price of gasoline to reach nearly $4 per gallon this year, the Gallup Poll said Monday.

In the survey, 63 percent said they were experiencing financial difficulties due to the current price of gallon, which averages nearly $3.30 nationwide.

The percentage is down from the 72 percent who felt pinched by the price of gasoline in September 2005, perhaps because U.S. residents have become more immune to gas price hikes, Gallup said.

"In part consumers may be adjusting somewhat, at least psychologically, to today's much higher gas prices," the report said.

In September 2005, the average price was $2.65 per gallon.

'Perhaps once the Treasury and the Congress get finished bailing out the financial sector, they will turn their attention to one of the most regressive taxes being levied on Americans today -- surging gas prices at the pump," the report said.

The survey, conducted March 14 through 16, has a sampling error is of plus or minus 3 percent.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.