Key takeaways: 

• The producer price index grew 0.8% in February, just lower than the 0.9% Dow Jones estimate.
• Wholesale gasoline costs surged almost 14%, supporting feed the most considerable single-month growth for last demand goods costs ever in data going back to 2009.
• Headline PPI was up 10% from a year back, securing January for the most significant increase ever.

Wholesale inflation rise, but still up 10% from last year: 

According to Labor Department data released Tuesday, another wave in energy costs drove wholesale goods costs to their most significant one-month leap on record in February.

Final demand costs for goods bounced 2.4% for the month, the most significant move ever in data going back to December 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics stated.

That caused the headline producer price index to up 0.8% on the month, barely lower than the 0.9% Dow Jones estimate.

Besides food, energy, and trade services, the so-called core PPI increased only 0.2%, well below the 0.6% anticipation.

On a year-over-year basis, headline PPI increased 10%, the exact as January, and tied for the most significant 12-month move ever.

The data came during the week of Feb. 13, before the Russian attack on Ukraine. Energy costs surged even more as the fight started and will appear in the following month’s report.

The numbers overlap with most other inflation gauges driving around 40-year highs, thanks to cost increases that have spread beyond volatile gas and grocery costs and across a broad range of customer goods and services.

In answer to the inflation trend, the Federal Reserve is predicted on Wednesday to increase interest rates for the first time since December 2018.

“Producer expenses are an early caution sign of what families can hope in terms of consumer price inflation,” noted PNC economist Kurt Rankin.