Weren't consumers supposed to stop spending because of high gas prices?

Hmmm - doesn't seem to be happening, at least based on March chain-store sales, which largely topped expectations. Joe Weisenthal at Business Insider explains:

Lots of people were worried, but some economists were sanguine for two big reasons. They noted that what really matters is not price, but change in price. And beyond that, they argued that each time gas prices rise, consumers get conditioned to that level, and so higher prices aren't as damaging the next time. In other words, the fact that we saw high prices around this time last year, and the fact that we had high prices in 2007-2008 had already taken away some of the sticker shock.

The chart below shows year over year change in retail sales, and as you can see sales did indeed sputter when everybody was writing about higher gas prices. But look what happens: Sales take off again. After the initial concern, consumers start realizing that they can deal with the extra cost.