Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. gasoline demand rose last week for the first time since April as prices at the pump fell further, SpendingPulse by MasterCard Inc. reported today.

Motorists bought an average 9.331 million barrels of gasoline a day in the week ended Dec. 5, up from 9.302 million a year earlier, MasterCard, the second-biggest credit-card company, said in its weekly SpendingPulse report.

Last week’s gain coincided with a 7-cent drop in retail gasoline prices.

“The price relief seems to have had a meaningful steady impact on demand,” said Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis for MasterCard Advisors.

This was the first time demand has been above last year’s levels since the week ended April 18. Gasoline use this year peaked at 9.65 million barrels a day in the week ended Aug. 1, 5.9 percent below the 2007 maximum of 10.25 million in the week ended Aug. 17.

U.S. gasoline consumption in the week ended Dec. 5 was 0.3 percent lower than the previous week, after rising for three consecutive weeks. Gasoline use for the year is down 3.1 percent from a year earlier, the report showed.

The national average pump price for regular gasoline fell 7 cents to $1.78 a gallon from the prior week, MasterCard said. Prices have dropped 41 percent from $3.03 a year ago.

The U.S. Energy Department said the average pump price was $1.699 a gallon in the week ended yesterday. AAA, the nation’s biggest motoring group, said on its Web site today that the average price is $1.698 a gallon.

Lowest Since March 2004

The last time prices were this low was March 2004, McNamara said. The record high in the MasterCard report is $4.10 in the week ended July 18.

Today’s report from Purchase, New York-based MasterCard was assembled by MasterCard Advisors, the company’s consulting arm. The data is based on credit-card swipes and cash and check payments at about 140,000 U.S. gasoline stations.

Visa Inc. is the biggest credit-card company by transactions processed.

To contact the reporter on this story: Barbara Powell in Dallas at Bpowell4@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 9, 2008 14:00 EST