(Bloomberg News) Wholesale prices in the U.S. excluding food and fuel rose more than forecast in March, led by a pickup in the costs of light trucks and soaps.
The so-called core producer price index climbed 0.3 percent after a 0.2 percent rise, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. Economists projected a 0.2 percent gain, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The overall gauge was little changed after a 0.4 percent rise.
Fuel costs advanced more slowly last month, supporting the Federal Reserve's view that the recent surge in energy prices will be temporary. With diminished inflationary pressure from energy, producers will probably find less reason to pass expenses to consumers, who are facing slow income growth.
"Energy prices typically rise quicker than they did this particular month," Kevin Cummins, an economist at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, said before the report. "Looking at the overall trend for producers, there doesn't seem to be any sign of a major pickup in finished good prices."
Another report from the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims rose by 13,000 to 380,000 in the week ended April 7, the highest since Jan. 28 and a sign the pace of improvement in the labor market is slowing. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for 355,000 claims.
Stock-index futures trimmed gains after the figures. The contract on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index expiring in June rose less than 0.1 percent to 1,364.7 at 8:48 a.m. in New York, after rising as much as 0.6 percent earlier.
Estimates of the 72 economists surveyed by Bloomberg for the overall producer price index ranged from a decrease of 0.4 percent to an increase of 1.5 percent.
In the 12 months ended March 2012, companies paid 2.8 percent more for goods, the smallest gain since the year ended June 2010. The core index increased 2.9 percent over the past year.
The cost of diesel fuel fell 6.3 percent, and gasoline prices dropped 2 percent, the report showed.
More than one-third of the increase in core prices in March was attributable to a 0.7 percent gain in the cost of light trucks, the report said. Prices of soaps and detergents jumped 2.1 percent, the biggest gain since July.