Wholesale prices in the U.S. continue to hover around 40-year highs, as problems with the supply chain, labor, the pandemic, and the war in Ukraine continue to cause inflation.
The U.S. Labor Department released April figures today which shows its producer price index, which measures supply conditions, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in April from March. On a 12-month basis, April prices rose 11% from last year and marked the fifth straight month of double-digit gains over 2021.
The fresh fruits and melons category posted an unadjusted 17.3% rise from April 2021 to 2022 and 8.5% increase from March to April 2022.
Fresh and dry vegetables were up 45.7% from April 2021 to 2022, but prices fell 26.6% from March to April 2022.
Energy prices in April only rose 1.7% from March to April, which was lower than the previous month’s 6.4% gain, according to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics report. Likewise, transportation and warehousing rose 3.6% in April from March, lower than the last month’s 5.7% increase.
The energy relief may be short-lived as in May, gas prices are on the rise again, hitting an all-time high of $4.40 per gallon of gas on a nation-wide average. Diesel also hit a record high of $5.55 this week.
