April wholesale prices rise

Companies paid more for raw materials and factory goods in April, mostly because energy prices jumped for the seventh straight month.

The Producer Price Index, which measures price changes before they reach the consumer, rose 0.8 percent last month, the Labor Department said Thursday.

That's slightly above the 0.7 percent gain in March. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, the core index increased 0.3 percent, the same as in the previous month.

During the past 12 months, the index has increased 6.8 percent, the biggest gain in nearly three years.

Outside of food and energy, prices rose 2.1 percent, up from a 1.9 percent gain in March. Passenger car prices rose 0.5 percent. Part of the reason was demand increased.

But the production of cars in Japan may also have been slowed after the March earthquake and tsunami. That prompted some automakers to phase out rebates, leading to higher prices, economists said.