WASHINGTON - The producer price index rose 0.2% in July on a seasonally adjusted basis the Labor Department reported Wednesday. That followed an unrevised 0.4% drop in June.
Core producer prices, excluding food and energy, rose 0.4%, the eighth consecutive increase. June's number was a revised 0.3% increase.
The median estimates from economists polled by Thomson Reuters were for no change in the overall number and a 0.2% increase for the core number.
The increase in the PPI was led by prices in the core index, and not by energy prices, as had been the case in recent months.
Energy goods overall showed a 0.6% decline and a 2.8% drop in gasoline prices.
Food prices were up 0.6%, including Irish potatoes up 25.8% and beef prices up 2.7%.
The Labor Department said nearly a quarter of the rise in core prices can be attributed to a 2.8% increase in prices for tobacco products. Light motor trucks, up 1.0%, and pharmaceuticals, up 0.4%, were also significant contributors to the rise in the core index. Car prices rose 0.2%.
Year-over-year the overall PPI was up 7.2%. Core year-over-year producer prices were up 2.5% -- a bit more than the Federal Reserve would like.
The July increase for intermediate goods was 0.2% and the same excluding foods and energy. Crude goods fell 1.2% for the month with a 5.2% drop in petroleum.
