By Rex Nutting
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. wholesale prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3% on higher food and energy costs, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. Excluding volatile food and energy goods, the core producer price index fell 0.6%, the biggest decline in three years. Falling prices for light trucks and cars led the way lower. The producer price index has fallen 1.9% in the past year, while the core PPI has risen 0.7%. Inflation at the wholesale level was lower than forecast by economists surveyed by MarketWatch, who looked for a 0.5% increase in the headline PPI and a 0.1% gain in the core.
