Gas prices keep climbing

Gas prices are already topping $4 in Los Angeles, along with other parts of the country.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Paying at the pump grew even more painful Sunday, as gas prices climbed for the 19th day in a row.

The price of unleaded gasoline inched higher again overnight, rising 1.4 cents to a nationwide average of $3.69 a gallon on Sunday, according to the motorist group AAA. That's a 30-cent increase from a month ago when the nationwide average was $3.39 a gallon.

Average prices for regular gasoline are more than $4 a gallon in California, Alaska and Hawaii, and are just shy of the $4 mark in New York, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C., according to AAA. The lowest average gas prices are in Wyoming and Colorado, where a gallon is going for less than $3.20.

Gas prices have been rising on the back of soaring oil prices, which have surged 10% over the past month amid fears that tensions with Iran will lead to an all-out war that causes a disruption in oil supplies.

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Signs of an improving economy have also been boosting oil prices, along with the stock market, which has seen the S&P 500 (SPX) rise by more than 8% in 2012.

With gas prices soaring, politicians have been touting their plans to lower prices at the pump.

Newt Gingrich, struggling to regain momentum in the Republican presidential primary, is leading the way, promising to get prices down to $2.50 per gallon.