Producer prices up 0.7 percent in month

WASHINGTON, April 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. Producer Price Index rose 0.7 percent in March compared to February, as food prices fell, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Prices overall increased at less than half the 1.6 percent rate of a month ago on an adjusted basis. The largest shift, however, was in food prices, which fell 0.2 percent in March after rising 3.9 percent a month ago, the largest one-month gain in food prices since November 1974.

Energy prices for the month rose 2.6 percent after rising 3.3 percent in February.

The index that measures prices on a wholesale level, rose 0.3 percent with food and energy items excluded.