Higher Gas Prices Won't Slow Holiday Shopping

Gas prices tagged along, rising from $2.68 a gallon just to about $2.89 a gallon earlier this month. For every penny the price at the pump increases, it costs consumers an additional $4 million, Cameron Hanover energy analyst Peter Beutel said.

The good news for drivers? Prices have started heading down. Demand for gas in the U.S. remains weak, and China has taken steps to cool its economy, which could reduce its need for energy and push oil prices lower.

Gas prices are already falling because oil prices dropped over the 10 days. Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service, thinks gas prices will eventually fall to $2.75 a gallon before the end of the year.

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Associated Press writers Stephen Singer in Hartford, Conn.; Anne D'Innocenzio in New York City; Josh Freed in Minneapolis; and Mary Esch in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.

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