US producer prices rose at their fastest pace in more than a decade in January, suggesting the threat of inflation may force the Federal Reserve to be more cautious in cutting interest rates.
The Producer Price Index - a key gauge of wholesale inflation at the farm and factory gate - jumped 1.1 per cent in January after a 0.2 per cent increase in December, the US labour department said. That was the largest increase in the PPI since September 1990, when wholesale prices rose 1.3 per cent.
The numbers were way above expectations from analysts, who expected a rise of only 0.3 per cent.