The cost of a gallon of unleaded gasoline in the state rose to a record $3.32 per gallon Wednesday, up 11 cents in the past month. Diesel, used in trucks and some passenger vehicles, rose to a record $4.11, up a hefty 20 cents in the span of four weeks.

Nationally, unleaded gas prices rose to an average high of $3.40, while diesel shot up to $4.13.

Utah and the nation are being hit with a triple whammy - record oil prices, at $115 per barrel; disruptions in foreign oil supplies; and the typical increase at the pump each year as the summer driving season draws near - said AAA Utah spokeswoman Rolayne Fairclough.

"We're seeing prices go up because of all of those things," she said. "But the base of it all is the incredibly high oil prices."

On a broader scale nationally and in Utah, record gasoline prices helped drive inflation last month, both directly through the cost of gasoline and indirectly via higher airline tickets as airlines paid higher jet-fuel bills.

Those inflation pressures are occurring at an inopportune time - just as the nation's economy seems to be sinking into a recession and Utah's comparatively strong economy has begun to slow down.

On Wednesday, the Labor Department said consumer prices nationally rose by 0.3 percent in March, after being unchanged in February, as energy prices jumped by 1.9 percent and airline fares increased 3 percent, the biggest one-month gain in six years.

The cost of living along the Wasatch Front rose 1 percent from February to March, Wells Fargo & Co. reported Wednesday. The banking company began in February measuring inflation in Utah's most highly populated area in a different way, so comparable information from last year was not available.

Wells Fargo economist Kelly Matthews said that in Utah and the rest of the country energy prices also are contributing to higher prices for food.

Food costs, which have been steadily rising nationally for more than a year, were up by 0.2 percent in March and 4.4 percent over the past 12 months. The price of some food staples showed even bigger increases, including a 14.7 percent rise in the price of bread and a 13.3 percent increase in milk prices.

''People are going to be paying a lot more for gasoline and groceries in the months ahead,'' said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. ''Nothing is going right at the moment. That is why consumer confidence has fallen to the lowest point since the early 1980s.''

Zandi said the rise in food and fuel prices has been a significant drain on consumers' purchasing power, another reason he and other analysts believe the country has fallen into a recession. Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of economic activity.

On the gasoline front, although a number of consumers along the Wasatch Front on Wednesday were going online to report filling up with unleaded for as low as $3.15 to $3.19 per gallon, drivers in rural areas of the state were paying far more. The highest price logged on the gas-comparison Web site Utahgasprices.com was $3.51 per gallon, in St. George, followed by $3.49 in Meadow in west-central Utah.

Robert Nielsen, of Fairview in Sanpete County, noticed Wednesday that unleaded prices had risen to $3.40 at a station near his house.

He said he's fortunate to be able to walk to work, but his family does have to drive to Utah County to shop and he has family in Logan. Driving the family minivan has become increasingly more expensive, so much so that he and his wife recently canceled a Logan trip.

"It just seemed like quite a bit of money, so we decided to stay here and do something else," he said.

Many consumers continue to try to reduce the amount of driving they are doing to cope with the higher prices.

Dale Taylor, of Lindon, who drives a diesel-powered Volkswagen Jetta, tries to work at home a couple of days each week. His wife, Kristy, has begun working four 10-hour shifts in a bid to further cut commuting costs.

When Taylor purchased his car in 2006, diesel prices were around $2.25 per gallon. His latest fill-up was at $3.99 per gallon - and that was with a 10 cents-per-gallon discount for using a particular credit card.

Taylor's Jetta gets good gas mileage, but not his wife's Tahoe. "We paid $75 for the last fill-up."

* THE ASSOCIATED PRESS contributed to this story

Cost of living along the Wasatch Front rose 1 percent

Pain at the pump fuels Utah consumers' angst

Record gasoline prices helped drive inflation last month, directly through the cost of gas and indirectly through food and other goods costing more. Inflation pressure is occurring at an inopportune time - just as the U.S. economy seems to be sinking into a recession and Utah's comparatively strong economy is slowing down.

Fuel

Although a number of consumers along the Wasatch Front reported filling up with unleaded for $3.15 to $3.19 per gallon, drivers in rural areas were paying more. On Wednesday, the highest price on Utahgasprices.com was $3.51 per gallon in St. George followed by $3.49 in Meadow in west-central Utah.

Food

Grocery costs, which have been steadily rising for more than a year, were up by 0.2 percent in March and 4.4 percent over the past 12 months. The price of some staples showed even larger increases, including a 14.7 percent rise in the price of bread and a 13.3 percent increase in milk prices.

Consumer prices

The Labor Department said consumer prices nationally rose by 0.3 percent in March, after being unchanged in February, as energy prices jumped by 1.9 percent and airline fares increased 3 percent. Locally, the cost of living along the Wasatch Front rose 1 percent from February to March.