Gasoline prices plunge, curbing wholesale-level inflation; core PPI up 0.4% WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. wholesale prices fell a record 2.8% in October as wholesale gasoline prices plummeted 24.9%, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The drop in gasoline prices also was a record for the government's data, which date back to 1947. The data deliver further evidence for the Federal Reserve that inflation isn't a top concern for the U.S. central bankers, amid Washington's efforts to revive the economy. The Federal Open Market Committee will primarily focus on its lender-of-last-resort role until the policy makers convene for their December meeting, wrote Mike Englund, chief economist for Action Economics. He added that it's still unclear what inflation will look in the longer run, after the current financial crisis. "Until then, the Fed is likely to anxiously await some signs that the current commodity price correction and growth downturn is translating to an observed moderation in core price gains," Englund wrote. Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist with High Frequency Economics, predicted "further sharp declines" for inflation in November. "Needless to say this is all about energy prices," Shepherdson wrote. Overall, finished energy goods prices fell 12.8% in October, the most since 1986, while food prices declined 0.2%. Excluding food and energy, core producer prices rose 0.4% in October. Analysts polled by MarketWatch had been looking for a decrease of 1.6% in overall PPI and for a 0.1% increase in the core rate. Records also fell further back in the production pipeline: Prices for intermediate goods fell 3.9% in October, while prices for core intermediate goods dropped 1.7%, prices for crude goods sank 18.6%, prices for crude core goods retreated 17% and crude food prices dropped 11.1%. Crude energy prices declined 24.9% last month, the most since April 2003. In September, overall producer prices fell 0.4%, while the core rate rose 0.4%. Producer prices are up 5.2% over the past 12 months.

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