Wholesale costs in the United States picked up sharply last month, signaling that price pressures are still evident in the economy even though inflation has tumbled from the peak levels it hit more than two years ago.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that its producer price index—which tracks inflation before it reaches consumers—rose 0.4% last month from October, up from 0.3% the month before. Measured from 12 months earlier, wholesale prices climbed 3% in November, the sharpest year-over-year rise since February 2023.
Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core producer prices rose 0.2% from October and 3.4% from November 2023.
Higher food prices pushed up the November wholesale inflation reading, which came in hotter than economists had expected. Surging prices of fruits, vegetables and eggs drove wholesale food costs up 3.1% from October. They had been unchanged the month before.
The wholesale price report comes a day after the government reported that consumer prices rose 2.7% in November from a year earlier, up from an annual gain of 2.6% in October. The increase, fueled by pricier used cars, hotel rooms and groceries, showed that elevated inflation has yet to be fully tamed.
