On an all-items basis, the headline PPI rose 0.5%, also above the forecast for 0.3% and 0.1 percentage point more than the prior month.

For the full year, core wholesale prices accelerated 3.6%, while the headline index posted a 2.9% gain. Both figures are well ahead of the Federal Reserve's 2% inflation goal and suggest that rising prices are still a factor for the U.S. economy.

The report comes as President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that inflation has been tamed. Pipeline pressures as indicated by the PPI figures could keep the Fed cautious as it weighs its next moves on interest rates. Markets largely expect the Fed to stay on the sidelines until the summer, though Trump and other White House officials have pushed for lower rates.

Economists have worried that Trump's tariffs will push inflation higher, though Fed officials largely expect the impact to be temporary. There was some evidence of tariffs in the PPI data, with indexes for apparel and other goods such as intermediate components moving higher.

Trump lost a key Supreme Court ruling that overturned his move to use emergency measures to implement the tariffs. However, the president has cited other authorities that will allow him to implement the duties anyway.