The Labor Department said Thursday, April 22, that wholesale prices rose more than expected in March, as the cost of food jumped the most in 26 years.
The Producer Price Index (PPI), which rose 0.7%, was more than the 0.4% climb analysts forecast, according to Thomson Reuters. The March increase follows a drop of 0.6% in February. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, core prices rose 0.1%.
Nearly three-quarters of the PPI’s increase in March was due to a 2.4% rise in food, the most since January 1984, while energy costs rose 0.7%.