Wal-Mart worker Jean Sartore sees the effect of rising gas prices on the sales floor at work and when she gets in her 1996 Buick Park Avenue. With local gas prices at $3.27 on May 16, filling her car costs about $75—a day’s pay at Sartore’s Wal-Mart Supercenter (WMT) in Henderson, Ky. At work, Sartore says the gift and toy departments she oversees now get fewer shoppers.

Sartore used to take unpaid days off occasionally but can no longer afford to do that. “I can cut back on the little things, but I still have to fill up each week,” she says. “That means no days off. It’s a lot of hours for a tank of gas.”

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