Producer Prices Jump More Than Expected

Washington, DC, July 15, 2008-- Producer prices jumped in June on a spike in energy costs, according to the Labor Department.

U.S. wholesale prices increased 1.8 percent last month, after seasonal adjustments, with energy prices spurting 6 percent and food prices growing by 1.5 percent.
 
In the past year, the producer price index, which tracks inflation at the wholesale level, gained 9.2 percent -- the largest rise since June 1981.
 
Fed chief Ben Bernanke told lawmakers Tuesday in his semi-annual report on the economy that the potential for runaway price hikes is the top concern of Federal Reserve policymakers.

Economists had expected the PPI to rise 1.4 percent in June.

June's core PPI, adjusted to exclude food and energy prices, increased 0.2 percent, lower than the  0.3 percent that analysts expected.