Fast-rising oil prices sent US businesses’ costs higher in March, lifting wholesale inflation to 4%, the highest annual rate in three years, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Tuesday.
The Producer Price Index, which measures the average change in prices received by producers of goods and services, rose 0.5% from February, the same pace seen the month before. A 15.7% rise in gasoline prices accounted for nearly half of last month’s increase.
“The quickening can be attributed to energy inflation, or the oil shock associated with the war in Iran; but wholesale inflation was on a bit of a tear before the conflict