The era of falling pump prices: It sure was nice while it lasted. U.S. average gasoline prices climbed back above $2 a gallon on Thursday for the first time since early January, according to GasBuddy.com . The national average is now some 31 cents higher than a month earlier, a climb that has coincided with crude oil prices rebounding back toward $40 a barrel. What this means for the economy is an open question. Motorist group AAA said Americans reaped more than $100 billion in savings last year from falling gas prices. That equates to about $550 per licensed driver. Yet consumer-spending growth, excluding gasoline sales, slowed in 2015 from a year earlier. Meanwhile the personal savings rate last fall hit its highest in nearly three years, suggesting Americans pocketed much of those gas savings . Gas prices have a tendency to increase in the spring months leading up […]