By Jeffry Bartash
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. wholesale prices jumped a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in May to mark the first increase in three months, spurred by higher costs for gasoline, eggs and light trucks. Excluding the volatile categories of food and energy, so-called core wholesale prices rose a much smaller 0.1%, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had predicted a 0.1% rise in the overall producer price index and a 0.1% increase in core PPI. Energy prices climbed 1.3% and food costs rose 0.6%. Over the past 12 months wholesale prices have risen an unadjusted 1.7%, up from 0.6% in April. The core rate has also risen 1.7% in that span.
