Wholesale inflation heated up again last month, reversing recent progress

US wholesale inflation picked up more than expected in October, indicating that some price pressures persist at the producer level.

The Producer Price Index, a measurement of average price changes seen by producers and manufacturers, rose 0.2% on a monthly basis and 2.4% for the 12 months ended in October, marking an acceleration from September, when prices ticked up 0.1% for the month and grew 1.9% annually, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Thursday.

Economists were expecting prices to increase, in large part due to comparisons to this time last year, when wholesale inflation slowed sharply and even registered outright price declines .

Additionally, the overall index wasn't benefited as much by falling energy prices, which dropped off by just 0.3% in October versus 2.8% in September.

Still, one potential favorable sign for inflation-weary consumers: Wholesale food prices dropped 0.2% for the month. In September, they shot up by 1%, the largest monthly gain since February.

FactSet consensus forecasts called for a 0.2% monthly gain and for the annual rate to heat up to 2.3%.

Excluding food and energy prices, which tend to be volatile, core PPI rose 0.3% on a monthly basis, marking an acceleration from 0.2% in September. Annually, core PPI heated up from 2.9% to 3.1%, the largest increase since June.

Thursday's PPI trajectory mirrored that seen in the latest Consumer Price Index data released Wednesday. CPI jumped to 2.6% for the 12 months ended in October, the first increase in the annual rate since March.