Wholesale prices in April climbed at their fastest pace since March 2022, the second inflation shock in two days.
The producer price index (PPI) rose 1.4% last month on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said in a release Wednesday. Annual wholesale inflation reached 6%, the steepest 12-month jump since December 2022. The monthly increase was nearly triple the 0.5% gain economists polled by Dow Jones had predicted, while core PPI, which strips out food and energy, climbed 1% against a 0.4% estimate, CNBC reported.
Energy costs drove the bulk of the increase. Final demand energy prices spiked 7.8%, contributing about three-quarters of the goods-side gain, BLS data showed. Gasoline alone surged 15.6% as pump prices pushed past $4 a gallon, with the Iran war straining the energy complex, according to CNBC. (RELATED: Prices Skyrocket To Highest Level In Years As Fallout From Iran War Continues Ravaging Economy)
Inflation pressure extended beyond energy. Service-sector prices advanced 1.2%, the largest monthly rise since March 2022, with a 2.7% bump in trade services accounting for the bulk of the move, CNBC reported. The reading suggests price strain is spreading past the Iran war’s energy shock alone, with CNBC noting tariff costs from levies President Donald Trump introduced a year ago may also be filtering in.
Wholesale prices surged 1.4% in April, much more than expected https://t.co/Es75BufWYO
— CNBC (@CNBC) May 13, 2026
The consumer price index climbed 0.6% in April and 3.8% year over year, the hottest annual pace since May 2023, Fox Business reported. The annual reading topped the 3.7% projection from economists surveyed by LSEG, widening the gap between inflation and the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
American paychecks have stopped keeping up with rising prices for the first time in three years, CNN reported. Annual inflation had retreated to 2.4% before U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, and the resulting energy fallout has steadily worn down household buying power.