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News of the Day March 18, 2026
United States Wholesale Prices Rose 0.7% in February
The producer price index, a measure of pipeline costs that producers receive for their products, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.7% on the month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core PPI increased 0.5%.
For the all items index, prices rose faster than the 0.5% pace in January. However, the core increase was less than the 0.8% for the prior month.
On a 12-month basis, headline PPI inflation was at 3.4%, the most since February 2025, while core was at 3.9%, according to the BLS.
The surge in PPI came due in large part to a 0.5% increase in services costs. Goods prices rose 1.1% on the month.
Food prices rose 2.4% while energy was up 2.3%