US wholesale prices rose a larger-than-expected 1.9 per cent in September in the biggest jump in 31 years, the Labor Department said today.
Price increases were led by a 7.1 per cent rise in wholesale energy prices, the biggest jump in 15 years. Food prices also soared, rising 1.4 per cent on a record 49 per cent increase in egg prices.
The producer price index for finished goods has increased 6.9 per cent in the past 12 months, the fastest rise in prices in 15 years and nearly double the rate seen in June.
Core prices, which exclude food and energy, increased 0.3 per cent as prices for capital goods increased 0.3 per cent. Car prices increased 0.9 per cent, and truck prices climbed 1 per cent.
The core rate is up 2.6 per cent in the past year, down from 2.8 per cent in August.
Economists were expecting the PPI to rise 1.2 per cent. Stock futures fell on the report, but bond prices were nearly unchanged.