US gasoline demand down 4 pct from year-ago

NEW YORK Jan 13 (Reuters) - U.S. retail gasoline demand fell about 4 percent below year-ago levels last week as gasoline prices increased, according to a MasterCard SpendingPulse report released on Tuesday.

Gasoline demand averaged 8.96 million barrels per day during the week ending Jan. 9, down 4.1 percent from the same period a year ago, according to the weekly report.

Demand for gasoline last week was relatively unchanged from the previous week, down 0.1 percent, the report said.

Retail prices for gasoline jumped about 8 percent from the previous week, gaining 13 cents to $1.74 per gallon.

Last week marked the first week since mid-September that average weekly gasoline prices increased.

Gasoline prices have dropped steadily for the past few months from a high of over $4 per gallon due to sharply lower crude prices.

The four-week moving average for gasoline demand, which is usually more indicative of long-term trends, was down 3.6 percent compared to the same period last year.

During the past year, U.S. gasoline consumption has shrunk, first due to high retail gasoline prices and then as the downturn in the economy slashed consumer spending.

MasterCard Advisors estimates retail gasoline demand based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments system coupled with estimates for all other payment forms including cash and checks. MasterCard Advisors is a unit of MasterCard Inc (MA.N). (Reporting by Rebekah Kebede; Editing by Christian Wiessner)