Reuters: Economic News: Gasoline prices a headwind to improving economy: Sperling

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Gasoline prices a headwind to improving economy: Sperling Mar 14th 2012, 21:42 WASHINGTON | Wed Mar 14, 2012 5:42pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The rise in gasoline prices presents a headwind to an economy heading in the right direction, while the payroll tax cut softens the blow to household budgets, White House economic adviser Gene Sperling said on Wednesday. "I would prefer they are lower," Sperling said of gas prices, which have risen above $4 a gallon in some regions. "Obviously for families who are still struggling, having to pay that extra amount at the gas pump is personal," he told the Atlantic magazine economic summit. But the approximately $1,000 in extra income that households receive from the temporary reduction in payroll taxes is roughly twice the amount they pay in higher gas bills, he said. "It is a cushion and buffer to families who are dealing with higher gas prices," Sperling said. "You also have more positive things that are happening for the economy," he said. "So it is a headwind that we face but it is a headwind in the mix of other things that are heading in the right direction."

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