US producer prices rose by more than expected in September to record their largest increase in five months as petrol prices surged, a government report showed today.
The Labor Department said its seasonally adjusted index for prices received by farms, factories and refineries, increased 0.8% after being flat in August. Economists had expected a 0.2% increase.
Excluding volatile food and energy, wholesale prices rose 0.2% last month after inching up 0.1 percent in August.
But the strong rise in wholesale prices last month is seen as unlikely to spark a broad increase in inflation pressures given the weak economic environment.
It will probably have little impact on the Federal Reserve, which focuses on core inflation, as it weighs options to help the anaemic recovery and pull down an unemployment rate stuck above 9%.
Last month, wholesale prices were pushed by a 4.2% jump in petrol prices, the largest increase since March. Food prices rose 0.6%, slowing from a 1.1% rise in August.
In the 12 months to September, producer prices increased 6.9%, accelerating from August's 6.5% advance.
