In February, the wholesale cost of goods and services in the U.S. - the segment where rising inflation usually shows up earliest - rose much more strongly than expected, CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/18/ppi-inflation-february-2026.html">writes</a>.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics, the Producer Price Index (PPI) - a measure of manufacturers' spending while their products are being shipped - <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ppi.nr0.htm">rose a</a> seasonally adjusted 0.7% last month. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the so-called core PPI rose 0.5%. And excluding food, energy and trade services, PPI rose 0.5% in January.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected these figures to rise 0.3%.

<i>This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor</i>

The core index of personal consumption expenditures in the United States rose at an annualized rate of 3.1% in January. The conflict in the Middle East may push it even higher, according to an analyst at Carson Group

The Fed's favorite measure of inflation rose at the fastest pace in nearly two years

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which reflects the dynamics of the cost of goods and services in the U.S. economy, <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">rose</a> by 0.3% in February in monthly terms and by 2.4% in annual terms. This was fully in line with the expectations of economists surveyed by Dow Jones, CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/10/new-inflation-data-is-set-for-release-wednesday-how-to-trade-it.html?&amp;qsearchterm=CPI">reports</a>. In January, annualized CPI growth <a href="https://oninvest.com/article/inflacia-v-ssa-zamedlilas-do-2-4-i-okazalas-nize-ozidanij-cto-budet-so-stavkoj">was</a> 2.4%; last December, it was 2.7%. The previous peak value of the index was recorded in September 2025, when its growth exceeded 3%.

US wholesale inflation in February significantly exceeded expectations