KEY POINTS
  • The producer price index rose 0.7% in January, higher than the 0.4% estimate.
  • Excluding food and energy, core PPI increased 0.5%, compared with expectations for a 0.3% increase.
  • In other economic data, jobless claims edged lower to 194,000, below the estimate for 200,000. Also, the Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing index plunged to -24.3, far beneath the -7.8 estimate.

Inflation rebounded in January at the wholesale level, as producer prices rose more than expected to start the year, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The producer price index, a measure of what raw goods fetch on the open market, rose 0.7% for the month, the biggest increase since June. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a rise of 0.4% after a decline of 0.2% in December.