Big increase in petrol costs pushes up US wholesale prices by most in more than 3 years
Posted September 13, 2012 8:38 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WASHINGTON – A sharp rise in U.S. petrol costs drove up wholesale prices last month by the most in more than three years. But outside energy and food, price gains were mild.
The Labor Department says that the producer price index, which measures price changes before they reach the consumer, jumped 1.7 per cent in August. The increase was mostly because gas prices soared 13.6 per cent, the biggest gain in three years.
Food prices rose 0.9 per cent, driven up by steep increases in the cost of eggs and dairy products.
Excluding the volatile food and gas categories, core wholesale prices rose only 0.2 per cent, below July’s increase.
In the past 12 months, wholesale prices have increased 2 per cent, a mild gain and far below the recent peak of 7.1 per cent in July 2011.
