On Febuary 24th 2011 the NY Times reported that the "Higher oil prices restrain growth because they translate to higher fuel prices for consumers and businesses".
According to answers.com the average cost of gas in 2010 was $2.70. As of September 2011 the average cost of gas is $3.56.
Good economic reports are reported and the price of oil goes up. We see zero job growth in August of 2011 and the cost of gas has gone up. We get a positve jobs report and the cost of oil goes up.
Someone gets a job and immediately gets a decrease in pay because it will cost more money to buy fuel to get to the job.
Higher gas prices equals less money in the consumers pocket. We need to fix this.