Inflation at the wholesale level, propelled by a surge in the price of gasoline, shot up 0.7 percent in March, the government reported Tuesday. It was the biggest jump in five months.
The Labor Department said last month’s increase in its Producer Price Index was led by a 3.3 percent increase in energy prices, reflecting soaring global oil prices that have pushed the cost of gasoline for U.S. motorists to around $2.28 per gallon.
Separately, the Commerce Department said that U.S. housing starts posted their steepest drop in more than 14 years in March, suggesting some cooling in the long-hot housing market, while producer prices rose steeply on surging energy costs.
Housing starts plunged 17.6 percent in March, their biggest drop since January 1991, to a 1.837 million unit rate from an upwardly revised 2.229 million unit pace in February,
