Lower costs of powering the car and heating the house kept U.S. wholesale inflation under control in May, but upward pressure on prices persisted in many areas of an economy whose expansion is the third longest in modern times.
Figures released by the U.S. government Tuesday showed the producer price index was flat last month following a sharp 0.5% increase in April, in keeping with the projections of many experts.
Still, inflation is more widespread after being largely invisible in 2016. The 12-month rate of wholesale inflation stood at a 2.4% in May, up from zero a year earlier and just slightly below a five-year high.
The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates this week, in part because of a rebound in inflation even though price pressures are relatively modest on a historical basis.
The reading in May was tied to falling prices for gas and other fuels. The wholesale cost of gasoline sank 11.2%.
The wholesale cost of food also fell for the first time in six months.
Core wholesale costs slipped 0.1% in May if the volatile categories of energy, food and retail trade margins are stripped out.
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