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	FULL COVERAGE
• Poll Vault: ABCNEWS Poll Archives
	IN DETAIL
• Consumer Comfort Index -- April 24
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Sampling, data collection and tabulation for this poll were done by TNS Intersearch.

The ABCNEWS.com poll found that 53 percent say recent increases in the price of gasoline have caused financial hardship in their households, up five points from a year ago and 17 points higher than it was in May 2000.

That financial hit could threaten the recovery because consumers' buying intentions, a component of consumer confidence, typically worsen as fuel costs rise.

Just last week the ABCNEWS/Money magazine Consumer Comfort Index posted one of its steepest falls in its 16-year history, after rebounding earlier in the year.

Fortunately for the recovery, the level of hardship is mostly moderate. Twenty percent say rising gasoline prices are causing them a "serious" hardship; 33 percent say it's less severe than that.

Fastest Rate Increase in 50 Years

The cost of gasoline actually is lower now than at this time in 2000 and 2001. But prices have risen at a faster rate this year, and a weaker economy may have left more people vulnerable to price increases now than before the start of the recession.

A congressional report released today found that some of the price increases over the last three years are the result of manipulation of gasoline supplies by oil companies, and a Senate committee on investigations starts two days of hearings on the issue Tuesday.

This spring, the report noted, gasoline prices have increased at the fastest rate in 50 years.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the average retail price for a gallon of regular gasoline rose from $1.11 per gallon at the beginning of this year to $1.40 this month, a 26 percent increase.

Over the same time period last year, prices rose 7 percent to $1.55 per gallon; in 2000 the increase was 14 percent to $1.47 per gallon.

Naturally, lower-income Americans are hit the hardest. Among people with household incomes of less than $35,000 a year, 58 percent say rising gas prices are hurting them financially, including 27 percent who say it's a serious hardship.

Among those with incomes over $100,000, by contrast, 44 percent say rising prices are hurting them, only 13 percent seriously.

This ABCNEWS.com survey was conducted by telephone April 24-28 among a random national sample of 1,027 adults. The results have a three-point error margin. Sampling, data collection and tabulation were conducted by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.

Previous ABCNEWS polls can be found in our Poll Vault.