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NEW YORK — The nationwide average price for a gallon of gasoline has hit $5 for the first time ever.

Gasoline reached $5 a gallon or more in more than a dozen states a week into the peak summer travel season, as stockpiles of the fuel remain tight.

Gasoline pump prices have risen above $4 a gallon in all states in the U.S. for the first time ever as the last holdouts — Kansas, Oklahoma and Georgia — saw prices rise overnight, according to auto club AAA.

Gasoline pump prices in the U.S. are rising to within a hair of an all-time record three weeks ahead of the peak driving season.

With the traditional start of the busy summer driving season fast approaching, congressional leaders are taking aim at rising gasoline prices.

The U.S. West Coast is importing gasoline at a near-record pace this month to help ease supply constraints amid eye-popping pump prices just ahead of the peak summer driving season.

U.S. retail sales picked up in March, helped by a surge in gas station receipts that masked mixed results in other large spending categories as consumers contend with decades-high inflation.

Last week, for what seemed like the zillionth time, lawmakers introduced a bill to end New Jersey’s status as the only state that prohibits motorists statewide from filling their own tanks. A Rutgers-Eagleton poll found that 73% of residents prefer to have an attendant do it for them, while 22% said otherwise.

President Joe Biden announced March 8 the U.S. is banning the importation of Russian oil as a direct response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade neighboring Ukraine, resulting in significant civilian casualties.

Top administration officials met the evening of Oct. 12 to discuss rising gasoline and natural gas prices, as President Joe Biden faces intensifying pressure to keep a lid on inflation that threatens the economic recovery and Democrats’ political ambitions.