Gas prices jump to fresh record highs

In another blow to the US economy, prices at the pump soared to fresh record highs.

The national average price for regular gasoline climbed more than four cents on Tuesday to $4.37 a gallon, according to AAA. That takes out the prior record of $4.33 set on March 11.

The gas spike — prices are up 17 cents in the past week alone — will only add to inflationary pressures that have raised recession fears, rocked financial markets and soured Americans' views on the economy.

The national average dipped to as low as $4.07 a gallon in April after the record-setting release of oil from emergency reserves and as oil prices cooled off. But as industry analysts predicted at the time, that relief proved to be short-lived and minor.

Pump prices are up about 25% since Russia's invasion of Ukraine set off shockwaves in global energy markets.

Real gas prices, adjusted for inflation, would need to climb above $5.30 a gallon to break the records set in 2008, according to the US Energy Information Administration.