US Wholesale Inflation Rose at Fastest Pace Ever Recorded in March

Supplier prices rose 11.2% from a year ago in March, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Food and energy played a massive role in rising inflation. If you exclude more volatile food and energy prices, the core Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.9% on a monthly basis, nearly double the 0.5% estimate.

"These numbers are evidence that inflation is continuing to grow as supply chain bottlenecks take their toll on the global economy," reads an article from International Business Times. "Russia's war in Ukraine has resulted in serious disruptions for food and energy products, while COVID-19 lockdowns in China have produced their own problems."

The new numbers will put further pressure on the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy more quickly. The Fed raised interest rates by a quarter-percentage point last month and will likely raise rates again in the coming months.

But it will take more than the Fed alone to lower inflation. "Supply chain easing, especially on the goods side of production, will be an important source of disinflation for the Fed to successfully achieve its goal of price stability," Will Compernolle, a senior economist at FHN Financial in New York told Reuters.