US wholesale prices rose far more than expected in July, posting their biggest surge in three years, new data released Thursday showed.
The producer price index jumped 0.9% from June, pushing the annual inflation rate to 3.3% — well above the 0.2% monthly rise economists had expected, with services being hardest hit.
The report suggested that even though businesses have been absorbing most of the costs from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, they could pass the burden on to consumers in the coming months, “with inflation likely to climb modestly in the second half of 2025,” one economist said.
The new numbers are “likely to unwind some of the optimism of a ‘guaranteed’ rate cut” by the US Federal Reserve next month, one investment executive told CNN. Trump has persistently pressured the central bank to cut rates.