![\"Wholesale](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/108306283-17786761851778676183-45909655771-1080pnbcnews.jpg\")
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Wholesale prices in April posted their highest annual increase in more than three years, signaling more nettlesome inflation as pipeline costs intensify.<\/p>\n
The producer price index<\/a> rose a seasonally adjusted 1.4% for the month, much higher than the 0.5% Dow Jones consensus forecast and the upwardly revised 0.7% March increase, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. This was the largest monthly gain since March 2022.<\/p>\n On an annual basis, the index was up 6%, the biggest increase since December 2022.<\/p>\n Excluding food and energy, the core PPI accelerated 1%, compared with the 0.4% estimate. Excluding food, energy and trade services, the PPI rose 0.6 %.<\/p>\n Energy was at the root of the unexpectedly high gain in producer prices, as it was for a surge in consumer prices that the BLS reported Tuesday, though there was evidence that the price pain is extending beyond the gas pump.<\/p>\n Some three-quarters of the gain in goods prices stemmed from a 7.8% jump in final demand energy, the BLS said. More than 40% of that was traced to a 15.6% surge in gasoline, during a month when prices at the pump soared well past $4 a gallon as pressures from the Iran war hit the broader energy complex.<\/p>\n While much of the inflation move has been attributed to the war and President Donald Trump<\/a>‘s tariffs that were introduced a year ago, the PPI data shows the price pressures were broad-based.<\/p>\n The services index accelerated 1.2%, the biggest monthly gain since March 2022. Two-thirds of the move was attributed to a 2.7% rise in trade services, a sign that tariff costs could be starting to have a larger impact on prices. The move also was buttressed by a 3.5% jump in margins for machinery and equipment wholesaling.<\/p>\n “Inflation is sticky and accelerating. The core reading confirms a deeper structural trend, especially in services,” said David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation. “The Hormuz crisis is aggravating the problem, but this goes way beyond oil.”<\/p>\n Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell following the release<\/a> while Treasury yields were mildly positive. <\/p>\n