Carnival hangover made worse with record jump in gas prices.

Carnival is over, and scores of thousands of cars have returned to battle the city’s traffic. But sitting in the growing traffic jams is going to cost more, lots more, in the coming weeks.

Gas prices are scheduled to rise this week, and initial forecasts are that there will be a giant jump of 25 -30 cents a gallon, fueled by the rising price of oil, following the Middle East uprisings, and extreme cold weather in the United States.

The new prices will mark one of the biggest ever one time increases  and take the price of a gallon of gas to close to, or over, $4 a gallon, the level that hit motorists  hard during the financial crisis of 2008.

The high price of oil will also mean a jump in electricity rates during the second half of the year.

It will also spark increased prices in restaurants and supermarkets as operators pass on increased operating costs.