US wholesale inflation shot up 10% in February from a year ago

(AP) - Wholesale inflation in the United States shot up 10% last month from a year earlier — another sign that inflationary pressures remain intense at all levels of the economy.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that is producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — rose 0.8% from December. The increases were in line with economists’ forecasts.

The report did not include price changes after Feb. 15, missing a spike in energy prices when Russia invaded Ukraine nine days later.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, wholesale inflation rose 0.2% from January and 8.4% from February 2021.

Last week, the government reported that surging gas, food and housing costs pushed consumer prices up 7.9% in February from a year earlier — sharpest spike since 1982.

Inflation, dormant for four decades, re-emerged last year as the United States rebounded with unexpected speed from 2020′s short but devastating coronavirus recession.

Caught off guard, companies scrambled to find supplies and workers to meet an unexpected surge in orders from customers flush with government relief checks.

Factories, ports and freight yards came under strain. Shipments were delayed and prices began to rise.

Tensions over Ukraine have only pushed commodity prices higher.

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