Wholesale prices stable as fuel costs drop

Washington

WHOLESALE prices in the US were little changed in August, restrained by lower fuel costs that signal that inflation would remain weak.

Stagnant producer prices last month followed a 0.2 per cent advance in July, Labor Department figures showed on Friday in Washington. The median forecast of 73 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 0.1 per cent drop. Costs have fallen 0.8 per cent over the past 12 months.

Depressed prices at the wholesale level, also reflecting declines in global commodity costs, signal that inflation may linger below the Federal Reserve's goal for some time. Fed policymakers, who meet next week to consider raising interest rates for the first time since 2006, have said that low e…