Producer Prices Rise 10% for Second Straight Month

Prices paid to U.S. businesses were up 10 percent compared with a year ago for the second month in a row, data released Tuesday showed.

The Department of Labor said its Producer Price Index rose 0.8 percent in February compared with a month earlier. That’s a slowdown from the 1.2 percent month-over-month rise in January, revised up from one percent.

Economists had projected a 10 percent annual rise and a one percent rise for the month.

Stripped of food and energy prices, the index rose 0.7 percent, matching the downwardly revised number from January. Compared with a year ago, the ex-food-and-energy index is up 8.4 percent.

Trade services measure profit margins rather than price levels. Stripped of food, energy, and trade service, prices rose 7.2 percent from a year ago and 0.6 percent compared with a month ago.