Wholesalers can partly blame eggs for raising their prices in January,🎐 as the familiar inflation culprit emerged again in the latest data. 

Food prices rose by 1.1% from last month, with a 44% rise in egg prices being a large contributor to the total, along with a nearly 6% rise in beef. Fresh egg prices for wholesalers in January were almost triple the level from the same month last year.

The data is part of the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Producer Price Index (PPI), which showed wholesale prices rose in January, surprising economists and adding to inflationary pressures a day after 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:retail prices rose unexpectedly.

Fuel Prices Spike Too

Overall, the prices wholesalers paid in January were 3.5% higher than the same time last year, and up 0.4% from December. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires expected a smaller 0.3% monthly increase.

A 1.7% increase in energy prices also contributed to the incre෴ase, driven by a 10.4% increase in diesel fuel prices and a similar rꦇise in home heating oil. 

Egg Prices Not Likely to Have Long-Term Impact 

The rise in egg prices is tied to an avian flu outbreak that has reduced the supply of poultry flocks, but economists said it is not likely to have a long-t﷽erm effect on inflation.

“The impact on the country’s inflation metrics could💞 be a one-off event as farmers deal with the shoc꧙k,” said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for LPL Financial. “The spike in prices will not repeatedly occur if outbreaks are contained and supply disruptions improve.”

There was a jump in the cost of hotel rooms, but there were no other major shocks in the wholesale inflation report. However, economists wrote that additional 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:tariffs could push prices higher in the coming months. 

“The business sector remains in wait-and-see mode to see what (if any) disruptions there may be for global supply chains as price uncertainty makes it more difficult to expand operations,”  wrote Nationwide Senior Economist Ben Ayers.