Mainstreet Daily News
An ongoing price surge saw wholesale inflation rise to 10 percent in February from a year ago.
The Labor Department said its producer price index, which tracks inflation before it hits consumers’ wallets, increased by 0.8 percent in January.
Wholesale energy prices also surged by nearly 34 percent in the past 12 months, and food prices rose by about 14 percent.
What caused the spike? The economy recovered quickly from the COVID-19 recession—fueled partly by government spending—and suppliers could not keep up with demand, causing price surges.
Last week, the government said the rise in gas, food, and housing costs pushed consumer prices to the sharpest one-year spike increase 1982.
The latest wholesale inflation report does not include data beyond Feb. 15, when energy prices spiked because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates several times this year in hopes of slowing inflation.
This story originally appeared in WORLD. © 2022, reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.