Gas prices continued to climb on Tuesday with the Canadian national average registering $1.26. (CBC)

A preoccupation with the rising price of gas is spilling over into the workplace, leaving employees distracted and tense, a new U.S. study suggests.

Researcher Wayne Hochwarter, a professor of management at Florida State University in Tallahassee, surveyed more than 800 full-time workers in the spring as the price climbed to about $3.50 a gallon.

The respondents, all of whom had an average round-trip commute of 48 kilometres, reported feeling distracted, less attentive and tense.

"Employees were simply unable to detach themselves from the stress caused by escalating gas prices as they walked through the doors at work," Hochwarter said in a release.

“Several employees said they simply could not escape the media onslaught of bad news regarding the future of gas prices, and many reported their financial futures were looking bleaker and bleaker.”

The research, which has not yet been submitted for publication, also revealed:

• 45 per cent of respondents have fallen behind financially because of gas costs.
• 39 per cent said the rising price has lowered their standard of living.
• 33 per cent said they would leave their jobs to be closer to their residences.

In Canada, commuters are also feeling the pinch as paying for gas eats into their paycheques.

Statistics Canada estimates the work commute of 55 per cent of Canadians is, on average, about 60 minutes for a round trip.

Gas continued to climb in price on Tuesday, with the Canadian national average registering $1.26 a litre, up from $1.17 a month ago, according to the price-tracking website Gasbuddy.com.

The price of oil climbed above $121 US a barrel Tuesday, owing to supply disruptions in Iran, Nigeria and Iraq, as well as the U.S. greenback's decline.