U.S. inflation at the wholesale level surged a stronger-than-expected 1% in January due to rising food and energy prices, the Labor Department said on Feb. 26. The monthly rise in wholesale inflation was the strongest since November.
Food prices rose 1.7% last month while energy costs at the wholesale level increased 1.5%. The rise in food costs was the largest since October 2004.
The government snapshot showed the core PPI rate, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, increased 0.4% last month.
Headline inflation rebounded strongly after falling 0.3% in December while the core rate picked up following a rise of 0.2% in the last month of 2007.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008
