Last updated on September 6th, 2012 at 09:04 am
According to a report on MSNBC.com, wholesale prices surged last month at their fastest pace in just over 1-1/2 years due to higher energy costs and the steepest rise in food prices in 36 years.
Excluding those volatile categories, inflation was tame.
The Labor Department said today that the Producer Price Index rose a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent in February—double the 0.8 percent rise in the previous month. Outside of food and energy costs, the core index ticked up 0.2 percent, less than January’s 0.5 percent rise.
Food prices soared 3.9 percent last month, the biggest gain since November 1974, reports the website. Most of that increase was due to a sharp rise in vegetable costs, which increased nearly 50 percent. That was the most in almost a year. Meat and dairy products also rose.
There was little sign of inflationary pressures outside of food and energy. Core prices have increased 1.8 percent in the past 12 months.
For more on this story, visit www.msnbc.com.
