WASHINGTON – Wholesale prices rose a higher-than-expected 0.6% in April, driven by escalating food costs. It's more evidence that inflation pressures are starting to mount as the country emerges from a recession brought on by the pandemic.
The increase in the producer price index, which measures inflationary pressures before they reach consumers, was double the 0.3% gain that economists had been forecasting.
The increase, reported Thursday by the Labor Department, followed a sizable 1% advance in March. Over the past 12 months, wholesale prices are up 6.2%, the largest advance since the data was first calculated in 2010.