Customers look at bagels at a Costco in Mountain View, Calif., on March 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices rose more than expected last month as food prices surged by the most in 26 years.
The Labor Department said the Producer Price Index rose by 0.7 percent in March. Analysts expected a 0.4 percent rise. A rise in gas prices also helped push up the index.
Still, there was little sign of budding inflation in the report, which measures price changes before they reach the consumer. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, wholesale prices rose by 0.1 percent, matching analysts’ expectations.
Low inflation has enabled the Federal Reserve to keep the short-term interest rate it controls at a record low of near zero in an effort to boost the economy.
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