As the nation awaits word from the Federal Reserve on if and when government interest rates will finally be reduced, January’s Producer Price Index report didn’t help on that front.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly PPI release on Feb. 16 showed that January wholesale inflation had its fastest monthly increase in five months. The index for total final demand showed a 0.3% monthly increase, following movements of -0.1% and +0.1% in December and November, respectively to its highest clip since August (+0.6%).

The all index figure topped consensus forecasts of 0.1% from economists polled by the Wall Street Journal.

Core wholesale inflation — which removes volatile factors of food, energy and trade margins — rose an even sharper 0.6% in January for its biggest one-month jump since January 2023.

On an annual basis, January’s final demand index ticked down 0.1% from December to 0.9%, likewise missing WSJ-polled economists’ estimates that it would move down to 0.6%. Core wholesale inflation repeated at a 2.6% year-over-year gain in January.

The disappointing PPI report follows a similar sentiment from the Census Bureau’s monthly Consumer Price Index shared Feb. 14, which showed that January consumer-facing inflation increased 0.3% month-to-month and 3.1% year-over-year — topping WSJ-polled economist forecast of a 2.9% gain.