Inflation, as measured by the producer price index, rose 0.6 percentage points to 2.1% for the year ending in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday, adding to recent data indicating that the Federal Reserve may have to do more to curb price pressures.
Economists had forecast annual wholesale inflation would rise to 2.2%, so the increase was a bit less than anticipated.
On a month-to-month basis, the wholesale price index was running at 0.2%, slightly less than expected.
Meanwhile, “core inflation,” which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.3 percentage points, slightly more than expected, to 2.4% in the year ending in March.
The report comes one day after the even more closely watched consumer price index report showed that inflation accelerated faster than expected.
CPI inflation rose to 3.5% for the year ending in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
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