In another indication of growing inflation, wholesale prices increased in July to the highest annual rate in 27 years, according to a government report released on Tuesday.
The annual Producer Price Index for finished goods rose 9.8% in the 12 months that ended in July.
The jump in wholesale prices is the fastest rate of increase since a 10.4% bump-up in June 1981, according to Joseph Kowal, economist at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Labor Department also reported that PPI rose 1.2% in July, after increasing 1.8% in June. Analysts polled by Briefing.com had expected the index to increase only 0.6% in July.
The so-called core PPI number, which excludes food and energy prices, rose by 0.7% - more than the 0.2% increase analysts had expected.
The index for finished goods other than foods and energy has advanced by 3.5% in the past year, according to the report.
