The power of wholesale inflation

Soaring energy costs sent inflation at the wholesale level up steeply last month, driving the Producer Price Index up 0.6 percent in July, The Labor Department said. That increase far exceeded the 0.1 percent predicted by analysts. However, core wholesale inflation – which excludes food and energy costs – nudged up a moderate 0.1 percent – an improvement over the 0.2 percent gain analysts expected.