Infla­tion rose to 2.1% in March in pro­duc­er price index, adding to signs prices are hot

Infla­tion, as mea­sured by the pro­duc­er price index, rose 0.6 per­cent­age points to 2.1% for the year end­ing in March, the Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics report­ed Thurs­day, adding to recent data indi­cat­ing that the Fed­er­al Reserve may have to do more to curb price pres­sures.
Econ­o­mists had fore­cast annu­al whole­sale infla­tion would rise to 2.2%, so the increase was a bit less than antic­i­pat­ed.
On a month-to-month basis, the whole­sale price index was run­ning at 0.2%, slight­ly less than expect­ed.
Mean­while, “core infla­tion,” which strips out volatile food and ener­gy prices, rose 0.3 per­cent­age points, slight­ly more than expect­ed, to 2.4% in the year end­ing in March.
The report comes one day after the even more close­ly watched con­sumer price index report showed th …