FoxBusiness.com:
The producer price index measures inflation at the wholesale level before it reaches consumers.
Wholesale prices rose at the fastest pace on record in December, the latest evidence that inflationary pressures are continuing to plague the U.S. economy.
The Labor Department said Thursday that its producer price index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level before it reaches consumers, surged 9.7% in December from the year-ago period. It marked the highest figure on record since the government began tracking the data in 2010.
Still, there are some signs that inflation could be decelerating: On a monthly basis, prices rose just 0.2% in December following a revised gain of 1% in November. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv expected producer inflation to rise by 9.8% on an annual basis and 0.4% from the previous month.
Food prices declined 0.6% in December after climbing 1.2% in November, while energy prices dropped 3.3%, following a 2% gain the previous month.
Core inflation at the wholesale level, which excludes the more volatile measurements of food and energy, increased 0.4% in December, down from a 0.8% jump in November. Over the past 12 months, core prices were up 6.9%.
The surge in wholesale prices comes on the heels of a separate Labor Department report released a day earlier that showed consumer prices climbed 7% in December from the previous year, the biggest increase since June 1982, when inflation hit 7.1%. Consumers are paying more for everyday necessities including groceries, gasoline and cars.
READ MORE at FoxBusiness.com
