Official figures show that US wholesale prices rose in April after a surprise dip a month earlier.
The 0.3% April rise in the producer price index, which was seasonally adjusted, followed a 1.2% decline in March and increases in the previous two months, the Labor department said. Analysts had expected a 0.2% increase.
On an annual basis, prices fell 3.7% from April 2008, the largest annual decline since January 1950.
Separate figures from the Labor Department showed that the number of US workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose by more than expected last week. The figures were pushed up by car plant shutdowns related to Chrysler's bankruptcy.
Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits increased 32,000 to a seasonally adjusted 637,000 in the week ended May 9, the Labor Department said, reversing an easing trend of the previous two weeks.
