Wholesale prices rise 0.1 percent in June

WASHINGTON - U.S. wholesale prices rose only slightly last month, as higher costs for food and pickup trucks offset another drop in energy prices. But overall inflation stayed mild.

The Labor Department says the producer price index increased 0.1 percent in June, after a steep drop of 1 percent in May. In the past 12 months, wholesale prices have risen 0.7 percent, the same as in May.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 0.2 percent. In the past twelve months, core prices are up 2.6 percent, slightly below May's 2.7 percent increase.

Most of the increase in the core was due to pickup truck prices, which rose 1.4 percent, the most in a year.