Gasoline Hits $3.72 a Gallon

The prices for gasoline jumped to an average $3.722 a gallon picking up 10.9 cents in a week and the fourth consecutive record.

Diesel, the fuel of semi trucks, delivery vans and railroad locomotives, shot up 18.2 cents to $4.331 per gallon, guaranteeing higher shipping costs that could boost the price of everything from TVs to tostadas.

Oil eased Monday, down $1.73 from Friday's record close of $125.96, but still ended Nymex trading at a lofty $124.23 for a barrel of benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil for June delivery. It was the fifth consecutive trading day oil closed at more than $120.

High oil and gasoline prices "are making a huge difference, because they're diverting so much from spending on other things," says Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia. Just 43 cents of every dollar spent — a record low, Vitner says — is "going to things we want to spend it on (such as) golf, vacations, restaurant dining, clothes, new cars."

Analysts are beginning to exhaust logical reasons for prices to climb. "It seems momentum is carrying it up. It just doesn't want to stop," Beutel says.

Gasoline prices were up in all regions. The biggest increase was a 15.7-cent jump in the Midwest, pushing the average there to $3.736. Only the West Coast was higher, at $3.833, EIA reported.