U.S. wholesale prices rose sharply last month, the Associated Press reports, in a sign that inflation pressures remain stubbornly high after three elevated readings in consumer prices to start the year.
The Labor Department said today that its producer price index — which tracks price changes before they reach consumers — climbed 0.5% from March to April after dipping 0.1% the previous month. Measured year over year, producer prices rose by 2.2% in April, up from 1.8% in March and the biggest increase in a year.
A measure of underlying inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, also jumped 0.5% from March to April and rose 2.4% compared with a year earlier. Economists closely watch these “core” prices because they provide a better signal of where inflation is headed than the overall figure.
Today’s unexpectedly high readings may raise concerns on Wall Street, at the Biden White House, and for inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve.
At the same time, some wholesale prices fell in ways that suggest consumer inflation could cool a bit this month. A measure of air fares fell 3.8%, and food prices dropped 0.7%. Vegetable costs plunged 18.7% between March and April. Hospital prices also declined.
