EL PASO, Texas -- At an average of $2.70 a gallon nationwide, gas prices are at the highest they've been in all of 2009.

Gas prices in El Paso are very close to the national average, at $2.68 a gallon for regular unleaded on Sunday. That's up from $2.33 a gallon just one month ago.

Some experts said the rise in gas price may have an effect on consumer spending for the holidays, and could be bad news to a fragile economy. Some worry it will make it less likely that people will spend their way out of the recession.

One oil analyst, Tom Kloza, said even if prices drop to an average of $2.50 a gallon between November and January, Americans will end up paying an extra $26.6 billion just on gas.

Wendy Liebmann, a retail expert, said people make a "clear emotional connection" between the price of gas and how much they spend on other things.