A gauge of U.S. business prices rose broadly in June, driven in part by a rise in transportation costs that underscores the sector’s climbing labor expenses.
The producer-price index, a measure of the prices businesses receive for their goods and services, rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in June from a month earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday. When excluding the often-volatile food and energy categories, prices were also up 0.3% in June from the prior month.
Rising prices for transportation and warehousing services helped push overall costs higher, as costs in this category grew 0.5% month-to-month and continued to climb higher on an annual basis.
Trucking freight prices rose 1.3% in June, the largest monthly increase in the category for records dating back to July 2009. Economists say the tight supply of truck drivers is putting pressure on prices.
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