In the results of a survey conducted during the first two weeks of April 2008 with 2,003 adult participants, 44% identified the price of gasoline as the chief economic concern changing the lives and spending habits of Americans.

Across all income levels included in the survey, participants identified paying to fuel their cars as a "serious problem." Given the continued price rise, this situation is unlikely to improve in the immediate future. The week of April 28 opened with gasoline averaging $3.60 a gallon nationally.

Breaking the survey into specific economy groups, more than 25% of respondents from households making more than $75,000 a year described fuel bills as a serious issue with 65% of those earning $30,000 or less signifying the same concern.

The second most prevalent issue at 29% was being hired for a good job or getting a raise, while health care costs came in at 28% of those surveyed. Trailing in fourth at 19% was the cost of rent or of a mortgage.

Both the closure of a pipeline in the United Kingdom due to a labor strike and civil unrest in Nigeria affecting Royal Dutch Shell have disrupted the global supply of oil as have production issues in Mexico. The per barrel price of oil opened Monday, April 28 at $120.

Fuel prices are also figuring in the presidential campaign, with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton calling for a suspension of the gasoline tax for the summer, a move Senator Barak Obama opposes.