Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Gasoline consumption in the U.S. slipped as prices at the pump reached the highest level in more than a year, according to a report by MasterCard Inc.

Motorists bought an average 9.31 million barrels of gasoline a day in the week ended Oct. 30, MasterCard, the second-biggest credit-card company, said in its SpendingPulse report today. That’s 0.4 percent below the prior week and the first decline in three weeks.

The national average pump price for regular gasoline increased 8 cents to $2.68 a gallon. Prices have jumped 23 cents in three weeks.

“We’ve gone up 20 cents in three weeks, but demand has stayed above 9.3 million,” Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis for MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, said in an interview.

Prices are 4.7 percent above a year earlier and are the highest since the week ended Oct. 24, 2008. That was also the last time that pump prices were higher than the same period a year earlier.

“In three weeks, we’ve gone from a year-over-year comparison of negative 28 percent to a positive,” McNamara said. “As we’re entering a more stable economic environment, we’ll have to see what the new threshold is for demand destruction. Two years ago, it was $3.10.”

Fuel use rose last week in the Midwest, was little changed in the Gulf Coast and declined in New England, the Rocky Mountain region and on the West Coast.

Demand Up for Year

Demand rose 3.3 percent from a year earlier when the deepening U.S. financial crisis and the escalating jobless rate reduced demand.

The average daily consumption for the four weeks ended Oct. 23 was 9.25 million barrels, 3.8 percent above a year earlier. Consumption for the year to date is up 0.6 percent from 2008 levels, McNamara said. Motor-fuel use dropped 3.2 percent in 2008 after rising 1 percent in 2007 and 1.2 percent in 2006, MasterCard said.

Demand peaked this year in the week ended June 26 at 9.7 million barrels a day, the most since Dec. 21, 2007. Consumption in the week ended July 3 was 9.63 million barrels a day, the year’s second-highest. Demand typically drops after the U.S. Labor Day holiday in early September.

The reports from Purchase, New York-based MasterCard are assembled by MasterCard Advisors, the company’s consulting arm. The information 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: November 3, 2009 14:00 EST