Gasoline price at record $3.60

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. drivers faced more pain at the pump as the average price for gasoline reached a record $3.60 a gallon on Monday and truckers went to Capitol Hill to protest soaring diesel fuel costs.

The national price for regular, self-service gasoline skyrocketed 9.5 cents over the last week to a new high and is up 63 cents from a year ago, the federal Energy Information Administration said in its survey of service stations.

The pump price has jumped 21 cents a gallon in the last two weeks alone and is expected to keep climbing, due to high crude oil costs that on Monday reached a record $119.93 a barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The White House said there was nothing the government could do to help lower gasoline prices this spring and summer.

"I think it would be disingenuous and unfortunate for American consumers for them to be led to believe that there is a short-term fix. There's not going to be one," White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters on Monday.

For the long term, Perino said the U.S. needed to increase its domestic oil production so there would be more petroleum supplies in the market.

There actually is some relief arriving in the mail this week as American began receiving their economic stimulus checks.

The Bush administration wants consumers to spend the money and give a kick to the sputtering U.S. economy.

Some economists say consumers may instead use their stimulus checks to help cover their rising gasoline costs.

The EIA's weekly survey of service stations showed gasoline was the most expensive on the West Coast at $3.79 a gallon, up 5.2 cents. San Francisco had the highest city price at $3.92, also up 5.2 cents.

The Rocky Mountain states had the lowest regional price at $3.48 a gallon, up 6.2 cents. Houston had the best bargain at the pump, up 8.1 cents at $3.47.

Separately, the average price paid for diesel fuel reached a record of $4.18 a gallon, up 3.4 cents in the last week and $1.37 higher than a year ago, the EIA said.

The central Atlantic states had the most expensive diesel at $4.38 a gallon, up 0.6 cent. The Gulf Coast region had the cheapest fuel at $4.11, up 3.6 cents, the EIA said.

Truckers on Monday drove their big rigs through downtown Washington, blowing their horns and holding a rally at the Capitol to protest high diesel prices. It costs about $1,200 to fuel up a tractor trailer.

"I can understand the frustration and concerns that they have, and obviously this eats into their bottom lines, and also into their pay," Perino said.

Rising fuel costs could increase the cost of goods transported by trucks, including food, retail and manufactured goods, further reducing the impact of the stimulus checks.

(Editing by Christian Wiessner)