(adds summer gasoline price forecast, pump costs in states, paragraphs 9-10)

By Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) - Rising gasoline prices have not discouraged Americans from driving, as weekly U.S. motor fuel demand reached a new record high for April, the government said on Wednesday.

The national price for regular unleaded gasoline soared 9.5 cents over the last week to $2.80 a gallon, up 12 cents from a year ago. It was the 10th straight weekly increase.

At the same time, gasoline consumption last week averaged 9.472 million barrels a day, a record for April, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.

"The latest weekly data showed demand continuing to grow at a strong clip. ... It takes a large increase in prices to significantly affect demand," the Energy Department's analytical arm said in its weekly review of the oil market.

Last week's gasoline demand shattered the prior April record of 9.338 million barrels a day set in 2004, the EIA said.

Gasoline demand two weeks ago also set a record for March, the agency said.

The EIA said data suggested pump prices would have to be "in the neighborhood" of $3 a gallon before Americans would change their driving activities.

The agency noted that gasoline demand growth slowed the last two times the average retail price of gasoline surpassed $3, following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and most of last summer.

The EIA is forecasting that this summer's average gasoline price will be 3 cents less than last summer and should reach a monthly average peak of $2.87 a gallon on a national basis in May.

However, pump costs this week have already topped $3 in many parts of the country, including California's average of $3.25 and Washington state's $3.01 a gallon.

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