By Jeffry Bartash
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. wholesale prices shot up a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in February, driven by a spike in gasoline costs. Gas prices jumped 7.2% in the biggest monthly gain since September. Excluding the volatile categories of food and energy, so-called core wholesale prices rose a smaller 0.2%, matching the increase in January, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had predicted a 0.8% increase in the overall producer price index and a 0.2% rise in core PPI. Energy prices climbed 3.0% last month, as the cost of gasoline, natural gas, home heating oil and diesel all rose. Yet food prices fell 0.5%, largely because of a decline in the cost of fresh and dry vegetables. Over the past 12 months wholesale prices have risen an unadjusted 1.7. The core rate has also risen 1.7% in that span, down from 1.8% in January. That's well within the Federal Reserve's 2% to 2.5% target range for inflation and suggests there's little reason for the central bank to halt its latest economic-stimulus program.
