By Greg Robb
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Wholesale prices fell 1.0% in May after seasonal adjustments, with energy prices falling 4.3%, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. This is the steepest drop in the headline PPI and energy prices since July 2009. The producer price index has risen 0.7% in the past year, the government said. This is the lowest annual rate since October 2009. The core PPI - which excludes food and energy prices - rose 0.2% in May. Core prices are up 2.7% in the past year. The drop in headline PPI and the rise in the core rate were very close to estimates of economists surveyed by MarketWatch. The PPI had fallen 0.2% in April, while the core rate was up 0.2%.
