Gas prices jump as summer approaches, confounding traders

The country is in the midst of its worst recession in decades, layoffs have taken millions of Americans off the roads, sapping gasoline demand, and yet gasoline prices have surged more than 25 cents in the weeks before Memorial Day.

The market has confounded energy traders, economists and consumers alike. What is going on here? DailyFinance spoke with a couple of experts to get their analysis on what for Americans is an annually frustrating experience: rising gas prices heading in to summer, no matter what the condition of the U.S. economy.