Another increase in energy prices pushed wholesale price index to its biggest one-month increase in February, as revealed by Labor Department data on Tuesday.
Final demand costs for goods increased 2.4% for the month, the highest move ever in data from December 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
That led to the increased in headline producer price index (PPI) by 0.8% in the Feb month, which is slightly lower than the 0.9% anticipated by Dow Jones.
On an annual basis, headline PPI increased 10%, the same as January.
Excluding energy, food, and trade services, core PPI increased just 0.2%, much below the 0.6% expected.
On a year-over-year basis, headline PPI rose 10%, the same as January and tied for the biggest 12-month move ever.
In response to the rising inflation trend, the central bank is expected to raise interest rates on Wednesday for the first time ever since December 2018.
The PPI is not watched more closely as much as the consumer price index, but wholesale prices feed into costs at the register and are seen as an indication of inflation.
