PREVIEW

Drivers this Fourth of July weekend will find that the price of gasoline has eased a bit in California as well as nationwide.

The average retail price for regular self-serve unleaded gasoline slipped nearly a penny a gallon last week to $1.34, the Energy Information Administration said. That’s down from a peak of $1.62 a gallon in mid-April, but up about 14 cents a gallon from year-ago prices.

The national retail price for unleaded gasoline dropped 1.1 cent a gallon during the last week to $1.11, the EIA said. The pump price erased the 1.6-cent jump from the prior week, but was about 6 cents a gallon higher than a year ago.