WASHINGTON, D.C. --- For the fifth consecutive week, the U.S. average retail price for regular gasoline moved higher, reaching yet another all-time high price of $3.603 per gallon, the U.S. Energy Department said in a weekly report released last Wednesday, April 30.

The average price had spiked 21.4 cents since April 14, according to the report issued by the department's Energy Information Administration (EIA). On a regional basis, while prices increased throughout the country, they did so at a somewhat slower pace than was the case during the previous week.

The largest increase occurred on the East Coast, where the average price jumped by 11.7 cents to $3.601 per gallon. This was the only region of the country to see an increase greater than 10 cents. The price in the Midwest shot up 9.8 cents to reach $3.568 per gallon, up 64.3 cents from a year earlier.

The average price in the Gulf Coast was up 9.4 cents to reach $3.505 per gallon. The average price in the Rocky Mountains, the lowest of any region, rose to $3.478 per gallon, up 6.2 cents from the previous week. Once again, the West Coast average price increased the least of any region, moving up 5.2 cents to $3.786 per gallon. Nonetheless, despite the relatively small increase, the average price was the highest of any region. The average price in California increased by 4.6 cents to hit $3.892 per gallon, the EIA said.

For the third week in a row, the U.S. average diesel price reached a new record high, increasing by 3.4 cents to $4.177 per gallon. That's $1.366 above the price of a year ago, the EIA reported.

Although diesel prices moved higher in all major regions, the pace of the increase slowed, rising by 3.4 cents. East Coast diesel prices increased 2.3 cents to $4.230 per gallon, tallying the smallest increase for any of the five principal regions but still $1.43 above last year. (Prices were unchanged in New England, increased by 0.6 cent in the Central Atlantic, and grew by 3.1 cents in the Lower Atlantic.)

In the Midwest, the diesel price moved up 3.5 cents to $4.133 per gallon. The price in the Gulf Coast increased 3.6 cents to $4.113 per gallon, remaining the lowest of any region. The diesel price in the Rocky Mountains moved up by 3 cents to $4.141 per gallon, $1.153 higher than a year earlier.

On the West Coast, the average diesel price went up the most of any region, increasing by 5.7 cents to $4.312 per gallon, $1.36 higher than last year. In California, the average diesel price increased by 7.3 cents to $4.390 per gallon, the EIA noted.