Latest Fed Data Shows This Happened With Wholesale Prices in August

An increase in the cost of gasoline and vegetable drove U.S. wholesale prices to a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent in August, the Labor Department said Friday.

Aside from the volatile energy and food sectors, core wholesale prices were little changed.

Core prices have risen 1.1 percent over the past 12 months. Luckily, inflation has increased very slowly over the past year.

The producer price index, which measures inflation before it reaches the consumer, shows that consumer prices have been rising at a modest rate.

Energy prices rose 0.9 percent in August, reflecting the big jump in the price of gas.

Food costs rose 0.6 percent in August, the biggest increase in four months. The increase was driven by a jump in the cost of vegetables (up 27 percent, the biggest jump since January) and poultry (up 2.3 percent).

Monthly percent changes in the Producer Price Index for finished goods, seasonally adjusted: August 2012 – August 2013.

Although core prices in the past 12 months have stayed well below the central bank’s ceiling of 2.5 percent or less, as MarketWatch notes, overall wholesale costs have jumped by 1.4 percent in the same span.

The consumer price index, commonly referred to as a more accurate measure of whether Americans are paying more for goods, will be released Tuesday.

Here’s the full Labor Department report:

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Featured image Getty Images.

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