Gas prices are rising like a rocket, climbing for 32 days straight to a national average of $3.73 a gallon. In Los Angeles, some drivers are paying as high as $5.19 a gallon.

“I pay 75 bucks like three times a week to come to work,” said one California woman. “You have to work to eat… if you don’t work, you don’t eat.”

In the last two months, gas prices have jumped 51 cents. 

Why is pain at the pump increasing? Experts say a confluence of several factors are to blame.

"Right now, things are tight worldwide," says president of New York commodities trading firm Paramount Options Ray Carbone. "Refineries going down, unanticipated maintenance, and higher demand... going into driving season."

The gas price spike couldn’t come at a worse time, as workers have less take-home pay due to the recent payroll tax increase.

The rapid rise in gas prices creates political challenges for President Barack Obama. In 2008, Obama pledged to reduce pain at the pump. On the first day of his first term, gas cost $1.84 a gallon.